Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons (11-8 overall, 5-2 NACC)
at Lakeland University Muskies (6-14 overall, 1-7 NACC)
Wednesday, March 29, 2023Â Â 6 p.m.
Woltzen Gymnasium
Battle of Highway 57
Lakeland/CUW Match Notes   PDF
The rivalry between the athletics programs of Lakeland University and Concordia University Wisconsin will begin another chapter when the schools' men's volleyball teams play for the Highway 57 Cup for the first time Wednesday night.
Broadcast Information:
Live video and live statistics:Â
http://www.lakelandmuskies.com/muskieslive
Series history:Â 8th meeting, Lakeland leads 4-3
The Muskies held the upper hand in the first two seasons the teams played in 2018 and 2019, but the Falcons have won the last three matchups. Concordia prevailed 25-21, 25-19, 25-22 last year despite Cam Ekum just missing a triple-double with 12 kills, 18 assists and eight digs. CUW also won five-set matches in 2020 and 2021, including a 25-18, 17-25, 25-16, 29-31, 15-10 victory in the last meeting at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium March 2, 2021. Lakeland won the first four meetings between the programs, including two in 2018, the Falcons' first year as a varsity program, and the most recent a four-set victory in Mequon March 30, 2019.
Lakeland last time out: Lost to Benedictine 3-0 Friday
The Muskies were defeated 25-23, 25-11, 25-13 by the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference-leading Eagles at home on Friday. Lakeland started well, coming back from four points down in the first set to tie it on six occasions down the stretch, the last time at 23-23, before Benedictine closed out the set. The Eagles then dominated the final two sets, including a run of 10 consecutive points in the second set.
Hunter Henson finished with seven kills,
Tim Matijevic added six kills,
Chase Anderson totaled 21 assists and
Drew Green finished with six digs.
Concordia last time out: Lost at No. 9 NYU 3-1 Sunday
The Falcons played a pair of matches on the East Coast over the weekend, including falling 25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 25-20 to New York University, the No. 9-ranked team in the AVCA/Division III Top 15 Coaches Poll. Spencer Herman finished with 13 kills and 10 digs but the homestanding Violets hit .252 for the match, including .519 in the final set. The loss snapped a three-match winning streak for Concordia that also included a win at Kean (N.J.) on Friday, and the Falcons have still won seven of their previous nine matches entering tonight. CUW has made headway in the NACC in recent years, including advancing to the NACC Tournament semifinals two years ago and again qualifying for the tourney last year.
Highway 57 Cup up for grabs: Lakeland and Concordia Wisconsin are playing tonight for the first time for the Highway 57 Cup in the Battle of Highway 57. The Muskies and Falcons are two of the seven NACC schools who were part of the conference's first year sponsoring the sport in 2018, and the teams will compete yearly for the cup, with the winners taking possession of the cup until their meeting the following year. The trophy is named after Highway 57, the state highway that is a frequent route taken by Lakeland and Concordia teams to competitions between the schools. It also follows in the spirit of the Cheese Bowl trophy, which the Lakeland and CUW football programs first began competing for in 1992, and the Cheese Bowl game has been played 31 consecutive years.
