PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Concordia University Wisconsin's talent and experience was too much of a hill to climb for the Lakeland University women's volleyball team, which fell in four sets Tuesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
The Muskies were able to take a set from the Falcons but were defeated 25-11, 25-11, 15-25, 25-13 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match. Lakeland dropped to 2-11 overall and is now 1-3 in the NACC.
Concordia (12-3 overall, 3-1 NACC) was the latest entry in a vicious early-season schedule for Lakeland, a slate which has included three matches against teams currently ranked in the AVCA/NCAA Division III Top 25 plus four more against teams receiving votes in the poll. The Falcons were the latest addition to that list, coming in fifth among teams receiving votes in the AVCA's latest poll released Tuesday and moving back towards the top 25 after being ranked earlier in the season.
The young Muskies got a close-up look at the experience and depth of Concordia, which started three seniors and two juniors plus a senior libero. Lakeland's starting lineup included two freshmen and three sophomores, and the hosts struggled in the first two sets, hitting a negative percentage in both sets while the Falcons posted a .379 attack percentage in the first set and a nearly flawless .583 mark in the second set with 14 kills and zero errors.
The Muskies brought a surge of energy to the third set and jumped out to an early 9-3 lead that included service aces by
Faith Spannbauer (
Fr.-Greenfield, Wis.) and
Maeve Sullivan (
So.-Chicago, Ill.) and a kill by
Hailey DeGrave (
So.-Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) who provided a spark off the bench. Lakeland would control the remainder of the set, never allowing CUW to get closer than three points the rest of the way and closing it out with five straight points finished by another ace by Sullivan to force a fourth set.
Concordia came back to quickly take control of the fourth set, building a 10-4 advantage leading to a Lakeland timeout. The Falcons would lead by as many as 13 points, notching five service aces in the closing set.
Sydney Pingitore (
Sr.-Kenosha, Wis.) finished with a match-high 19 digs to lead Lakeland, while DeGrave paced the Muskies' attack with six kills.
Kelly Swope (
So.-Heyworth, Ill.) added five kills, seven assists and six digs plus three block assists, but as a team the Muskies hit .018 with 27 kills and 25 errors.
Sophia Collins led Concordia with 10 kills and Hanna Himmelman added eight kills plus five blocks (one solo, four assisted). Maycee Karpfinger also added five service aces and five block assists. The Falcons hit .245 for the match (43 kills, 16 errors) and finished with 12 aces plus ten team blocks.
Lakeland is home again Friday when it welcomes Aurora University for a 7 p.m. start at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
