Marian University Sabres (0-2 overall, 0-2 NACC North)
at Lakeland University Muskies (0-3 overall, 0-3 NACC North)
Sunday, March 21, 2021 Noon
Woltzen Gymnasium
Lakeland/Marian Game Notes PDF
The Lakeland University women's volleyball team is home for the first time in its belated and abbreviated 2020-21 season when it hosts Marian University for a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference North Division doubleheader starting at noon Sunday at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
Fan attendance policy: Lakeland University is permitting 75 spectators at Sunday's matches, limited to current Lakeland faculty, staff and students. For more information visit
https://lakelandmuskies.com/sports/2021/3/11/covid-19-fan-policies.aspx. Off-campus spectators are not permitted.
Broadcast Information: Live video and statistics for all Lakeland women's volleyball home matches are available at
http://www.lakelandmuskies.com/muskieslive.
Series history: Lakeland and Marian are long-time rivals in volleyball dating back to the early years of the Muskies program in the 1970s. Lakeland swept the Sabres in their most recent meeting with a 25-21, 25-17, 25-10 win in Fond du Lac on Sept. 27, 2019, as Shannon Bishop piled up 12 kills,
Neenah Primas tallied 34 assists and
Sydney Pingitore finished with 20 digs. Marian's last win over the Muskies came back in 2016 in a 25-15, 25-21, 16-25, 25-21 victory in Fond du Lac. Prior to that, Lakeland had won 11 straight matches in the series, dating back to the first year of competition in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference in 2006.
Lakeland last time out: Lost at MSOE 3-2 last Sunday
The Muskies fought back from a two-set deficit but couldn't complete the comeback in a 25-15, 25-21, 19-25, 17-25, 15-11 loss to the Raiders. Lakeland finished with 45 kills but 32 errors for a .066 hitting percentage, offsetting 12 service aces and a big match for Pingitore, who finished with 29 digs.
Abby Baumgartner also totaled 14 kills,
Megan Goeser added nine kills plus five blocks, Primas dished out 37 assists and
Maeve Sullivan and
Emily Bringer added 14 and 13 digs, respectively.
About the Muskies: Lakeland lost its second straight five-set match and dropped to 0-3 in the NACC North Division early in the season, a tough start after the Muskies tied for the NACC title in the 2019 season. Lakeland returned three starters from that team in Baumgartner, Goeser and Primas plus libero Pingitore, but lost first team all-NACC outside hitter Shannon Bishop from its conference tri-champs team. Lakeland also is navigating an updated schedule for the spring after the fall postponement of NACC sports due to the coronavirus, as conference teams have been divided into North and South divisions for this spring only and teams are mainly playing doubleheaders on the same day against opponents.
Marian last time out: Lost to Edgewood 3-2 and 3-1 last Sunday
The Sabres opened their season a week ago and also lost a five-setter, falling to Edgewood 25-22, 25-14, 22-25, 23-25, 15-10. The Eagles also won the second match, rallying for a 23-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-22 victory. Marian's Monica Dreifuerst had a pair of big matches, with 20 kills in the opener and 13 in the second match, plus 28 digs on the day. Kaitlyn Merrill added 15 kills, Anna Tapia totaled 69 assists and Reagan Jasica finished with 24 digs plus five service aces on the afternoon.
About the Sabres: Despite a pair of hard-fought matches, Marian was more competitive against Edgewood than in the 2019 season, when the Eagles won in a 3-0 sweep. The Sabres finished 6-20 overall last season and 3-9 in the NACC, and have a new coach this season in Erin Syversen, who joined the program after serving as an assistant at Adrian (Mich.) and also previously was an assistant at Wisconsin Lutheran.
