The Lakeland University women's volleyball team opened the home portion of its spring season successfully, defeating Marian University twice to take both ends of a rare same-day doubleheader Sunday afternoon at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies shook off some uneasy moments in both matches to twice defeat the Sabres in four sets. Lakeland won the opener 25-17, 26-24, 22-25, 25-22 and then claimed a 25-15, 18-25, 25-20, 25-18 win in the second match between Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference North Divisions foes.

The Muskies (2-3 overall, 2-2 NACC North) struggled with consistency, mixing moments of excellence with error-filled stretches as the Sabres (0-4 overall, 0-4 NACC North) hung around all day. Lakeland built big leads in sets on several occasions before seeing margins evaporate, but ultimately made the plays it needed more times than not late in sets.

The second set of the opening match was a nutshell of the Muskies' day, as they built a 13-4 lead on the strength of a 9-1 run before Marian clawed back to tie it at 19-19. Lakeland then surged back ahead to reach set point at 24-20, but the Sabres fought off four set points to tie it before the Muskies came back with the final two points of the set.

Lakeland started strong in the second match, scoring the first eight points including three service aces by Megan Goeser (Sr.-Plymouth, Wis.), and cruised to win the first set before Marian got on a run in the second set. The teams were tied 17-17 when the Sabres finished the set on an 8-1 run, including five kills from Monica Dreifuerst to even the set.

Lakeland turned the tables in the third set, pulling away late after 14 ties in the set, the last at 19-19. The Muskies finished the set on a 7-1 run to win it, and then controlled the fourth set as both teams tired after two hard-fought four-set matches.

Freshmen Katie Metzler (Kewaunee, Wis.) and Brelynn Scoles (Kewaskum, Wis.) led the Muskies in the first match with 12 kills each. Neenah Primas (Sr.-Oostburg, Wis.) also totaled 40 assists plus 14 digs, Sydney Pingitore (Jr.-Kenosha, Wis.) piled up 24 digs and Maeve Sullivan (Fr.-Chicago, Ill.) added 16 digs.

Abby Baumgartner (Sr.-Kewaunee, Wis.) led Lakeland in the second match with 16 kills, while Goeser added 12 kills and four service aces. Primas recorded 40 assists for the second straight match, Pingitore topped the team with 24 digs and Emily Bird (So.-Union Grove, Wis.) added six kills plus three blocks.

Lakeland hit .141 in the first match (54 kills, 29 errors) and .151 in the second match (51 kills, 27 errors). Marian hit .079 in the opener (40 kills, 27 errors) before finishing at .102 in the nightcap (40 kills, 25 errors). Dreifuerst finished with 13 kills in both matches for the Sabres and added 33 digs on the day.

The Muskies are back in action for another NACC North doubleheader next Sunday when they travel to face Wisconsin Lutheran College at noon in Milwaukee.