MEQUON, Wis. – The Lakeland University women's volleyball team rallied to force a fifth set but Concordia University Wisconsin pulled out a five-set win to complete a sweep of a season-opening Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference doubleheader for both teams Sunday.

Concordia recorded a 3-0 sweep in the first match, winning 25-23, 28-26, 25-18 and then held on for a 24-26, 25-20, 25-20, 13-25, 15-10 victory in the second match.

The Muskies and Falcons began their regular seasons more than six months after originally scheduled, with the NACC's fall season pushed to the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The opening day of play saw the first-ever day of conference doubleheader play, as conference teams this year will play the same teams twice on the same day in an abbreviated schedule.

The matchup was a battle between two of the three NACC regular season tri-champions from the 2019 season. The Falcons continued their recent dominance of the Muskies, though, running their winning streak to nine matches in the series.

The matches between Lakeland and Concordia have regularly been close, though, with the Muskies extending the Falcons to five sets three times in that streak and playing four sets in four others. Sunday was no exception, with two of three sets in the opener decided by two points and the second match going the limit.

Lakeland used a big 14-2 run in the fourth set to force a deciding fifth set, but Concordia got a quick jump in the final set. The Falcons scored the first five points, scored four more in a row after the Muskies had closed to within 6-4, and then pulled away again with three straight after Lakeland rallied back within 10-8.

The first match also saw three close sets until a final run by Concordia at the end of the third set. The match included 12 lead changes and 31 ties over the three sets, including 15 ties alone in the third, the last coming at 17-17. CUW closed out the match on an 8-1 run, though, with the final seven-point margin in the third the biggest for either team in the match.

Abby Baumgartner (Sr.-Kewaunee, Wis.) had two big matches for Lakeland, including 17 kills plus 14 digs in the second plus 10 kills in the first. Sydney Pingitore (Jr.-Kenosha, Wis.) also combined for 47 digs over the two matches, including 32 in the night session and 15 in the opener.

Freshman Brelynn Scoles (Kewaskum, Wis.) also added seven kills in the first match and fellow frosh Maeve Sullivan (Chicago, Ill.) added seven digs. Megan Goeser (Sr.-Plymouth, Wis.) also finished with nine kills plus five blocks in the second match and Neenah Primas (Sr.-Oostburg, Wis.) piled up 43 assists and 14 digs. Katie Metzler (Fr.-Kewaunee, Wis.) also finished with 13 kills over the two matches, including seven in the second.

Lakeland is in action again when it travels to face Milwaukee School of Engineering next Sunday in Milwaukee starting at 10 a.m.