The Muskies and Sabercats have met three times prior, all coming in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Lakeland won the last meeting 25-11, 25-21, 25-23 on March 2, 2019 in Chicago as part of a triangular at Illinois Tech. The Muskies also swept a home-and-home between the schools in 2018, including a three-set sweep at home Jan. 27, 2018 in the first-ever meeting, plus a 3-0 win in Watertown at Maranatha just over a month later on March 6.

Lakeland last time out: Lost to MSOE 3-0 Saturday
The Muskies last played Saturday afternoon, falling to the Raiders 25-20, 25-23, 25-15 in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match. Lakeland hung around until late in the first two sets, including holding a 19-17 lead late in the second set and stayed tied until 21-21 before the Engineers closed out the set. MSOE hit .338 for the match with 37 kills and 12 errors, while the Muskies hit just .029 with 23 kills and 21 errors. Ben Busalacchi (10 kills) and Hunter Henson (6 kills) combined for most of the offense, and Busalacchi also added eight digs with Chas Anderson finishing with 14 assists.

Maranatha Baptist last time out: Lost at Concordia Wisconsin 3-0 Tuesday
The Sabercats had a tough night in Mequon, falling 25-7, 25-9, 25-14 to the Falcons. Concordia hit .304 for the match and added 19 service aces, with nine different players recording at least one ace. Zach Mueller posted seven assists to lead Maranatha, Jordan Hoffmann finished with six digs and Daniel Says led the attack with three kills. 

Maranatha led just once in the match, a brief 2-1 lead in the second set, and fell in three sets for the 23rd straight match this year. The Sabercats compete as an NCAA Division III independent and have faced a busy schedule already, one that has included seven matches against Lakeland's NACC brethren as well as matches against NAIA and NCAA Division II schools. Maranatha is in its sixth year as a varsity program, finished 4-20 last year and has already played nearly three-quarters of its season schedule, with just eight matches left and its season finale coming March 14.

Old and young: Lakeland's roster this year features six seniors, including Isaiah Vance, who recently rejoined the team, but the group that has been on the court the most has actually been very young this year. The Muskies' most common rotation has included five freshmen, a sophomore and three juniors, and all three juniors will have an extra year of eligibility available if they choose due to COVID-19 heavily disrupting the team's 2021 season. The freshmen, sophomores and juniors have accounted for 451 of the team's 453 kills so far this year, as well as 83.5% of the Muskies' digs and 71.8% of the team's assists.