PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Wisconsin Lutheran College rallied from early deficits in the first two sets and the Lakeland University women's volleyball team had tough night hitting in a three-set loss Wednesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
A matchup between expected contenders in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference went to the Warriors in a sweep, 26-24, 25-16, 25-23, in the conference opener for both teams. Lakeland also dropped its first home match of the season in falling to 1-6 overall, while Wisconsin Lutheran moved to 2-6.
The Muskies hit in the negative for the match with 27 kills and 29 errors in 114 attempts (-.018 attack percentage). Lakeland especially struggled after the first set, with 14 kills and 21 errors over the final two sets.
The Muskies held momentum early in both of the first two sets, though, including jumping to an 11-8 lead in the first set. Wisconsin Lutheran never led in the set until a 5-0 run late in the set to take a 22-18 lead, but Lakeland rallied to tie back at 22-22 before the Warriors rallied to clock the set with a kill by Rebecca Chavez and a block by Chavez and Megan Riley.
Lakeland also jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the second set and still was ahead 11-8 when WLC went on a 6-0 run to take control of the set and the match. The set got away from the Muskies with eight attack errors in a stretch where the Warriors closed scoring 17 of the final 22 points.
Lakeland also fell behind big in the third set, down 18-11 before a bigger lineup began to pay off at the net.
Kelly Swope (
So.-Heyworth, Ill.) and
Katie Metzler (
So.-Kewaunee, Wis.) were part of two blocks each (one solo, one assisted each),
Emily Bird (
Jr.-Waterford, Wis.) added a block and the Muskies knocked a number of other Warrior attacks into play in coming back to within 20-19 after a kill by
Hailey DeGrave (
So.-Sturgeon Bay, Wis.).
The Muskies could never get over the hump, though, and Lutheran earned match point at 24-21 before a Metzler kill and a WLC setting error made it 24-23. A long final rally ended though with a kill by Chavez, her career-high 13th kill to close the match
Susana Stevens (
Fr.-Las Cruces, N.M.) led Lakeland with 10 kills and Metzler added six kills.
Sydney Pingitore (
Sr.-Kenosha, Wis.) finished with 12 digs and
Maeve Sullivan (
So.-Chicago, Ill.) added nine digs in the back row.
Roseily Carrasquillo (
Fr.-Yabucoa, Puerto Rico) led the shared setting duties with nine assists and Metzler finished with five blocks total (two solo, three assisted).
Jenna Charron also added eight kills for Wisconsin Lutheran, which hit .121 with 36 kills and 22 errors in 116 attempts. Ally Goba also piled up 20 digs and Emily Sarles finished with 25 assists.
A tough schedule for Lakeland gets no easier this weekend with a trip to the Sandy Schumacher Memorial Tournament hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. In addition to facing the nationally ranked host school Saturday, the Muskies open Friday night at 7 p.m. against Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) College, which is just outside the most recent AVCA/NCAA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll.
