The Lakeland University women's volleyball team continued its early season non-conference gauntlet with two more competitive losses to fellow Wisconsin schools Wednesday night, falling to UW-Stevens Point and UW-Oshkosh in matches hosted by St. Norbert College in De Pere at its Mulva Family Fitness and Sports Center.

The Muskies lost both matches in three sets, but the final tally didn't tell the entire story with three of the six sets decided by two points. Lakeland fell to UW-Stevens Point 25-23, 25-18, 25-19, and then dropped a 25-11, 27-25, 26-24 decision to UW-Oshkosh.

The Muskies fell to 0-4 on the season, but three of its losses have come to teams either nationally ranked this week (No. 5 Carthage and No. 19 UW-Whitewater) or receiving votes in the latest AVCA/NCAA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll. Wednesday night also marked Lakeland's third straight match against a member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

The Muskies were tied with the Pointers ten times in the opening set of the first match, the last time at 23-23 after a block by Brelynn Scoles (So.-Kewaskum, Wis.) and Kelly Swope (So.-Heyworth, Ill.). UWSP (4-2 overall) closed out the set, though, with a pair of kills by Ashley Kopp.

The Pointers controlled the second set from the beginning with a 6-0 run to start, but Lakeland fought back in a third set with nine ties and three lead changes and was tied at 18-18 late after back-to-back kills by S'Niya Gantt (Fr.-Dallas, Texas) and Scoles. UW-Stevens Point would close the match, though, on a 7-1 run to finish the sweep.

UW-Oshkosh (4-2 overall) opened the second match dominating the opening set, but the Muskies came back in the second and led 20-15 late after three straight service aces by Katie Metzler (So.-Kewaunee, Wis.). Lakeland even held a set point at 24-23 after a late Titans rally, but UWO would score four of the final five points, finishing the set on a 12-5 run to win it.

The Muskies still had multiple rallies left in them in the third set after falling behind 9-1 at the start, battling all the way back to tie it at 21-21 after a kill by setter Roseily Carrasquillo (Fr.-Yabucoa, Puerto Rico). UW-Oshkosh followed with three straight for a 24-21 lead, but the Muskies staved off three match points before the Titans closed it out with two straight points.

Sydney Pingitore (Sr.-Kenosha, Wis.) finished with 33 digs over the two matches while Carrasquillo totaled 16 assists and Metzler finished with five aces. Susana Stevens (Fr.-Las Cruces, N.M.) led Lakeland with 11 kills for the night and Swope added 10 kills.

Lakeland next will participate in the Polito's Classic hosted by UW-Oshkosh on Saturday. The Muskies will face UW-Stout at 9:30 a.m. and then take on Lake Forest (Ill.) College at 1:30 p.m.