WHITEWATER, Wis. – Lakeland University took on a big test to open its women's volleyball season and fell to nationally ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Friday afternoon on the opening day of the UW-Whitewater Invite.

The Muskies had a good showing in the second set but were defeated by the Warhawks 25-15, 31-29, 25-14. Lakeland fell to the team ranked 12th in the AVCA/NCAA Division III Top 25 Preseason Poll and in its first of five scheduled matches against teams from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference this season.

The Muskies dropped the first and third sets in similar fashion, hanging with the Whitewater for the first half of the set before the hosts pulled away late. The middle set was a different story, with Lakeland taking an early five-point lead before settling into a back-and-forth that went well past the 25-point mark.

The Muskies led 7-2 early in the set after early service aces by Brelynn Scoles (Sr.-Kewaskum, Wis.) and Maeve Sullivan (Sr.-Chicago, Ill.) and a block by Katie Metzler (Sr.-Kewaunee, Wis.) and Susana Stevens (Jr.-Las Cruces, N.M.) that led to a UWW timeout. Lakeland still led 11-7 after another ace by Montana Zdroik (So.-Stevens Point, Wis.) when the hosts came back with a 6-1 run to take a 13-12 lead.

Lakeland followed with two straight points to retake the lead, and the teams then battled for the rest of the set, with 19 ties and nine lead changes in all in the set. From the Muskies' 13-12 lead, neither team led by more than a point the rest of the set until Whitewater fought off set point for the third time and finally closed it out with three straight points to win the set.

Kelly Swope (Sr.-Heyworth, Ill.) led Lakeland with 11 kills, with Stevens adding six kills. Sullivan tallied 10 digs and Zdroik and freshman Emily Dickmann (Grafton, Wis.) shared setting duties with 11 and 10 assists, respectively.

UW-Whitewater's Jenna Weinfurt proved tough to stop with 17 kills and a .355 attack percentage. Aubrie Krzus posted 35 assists. The Warhawks hit .321 as a team with 48 kills and 14 errors in 106 attacks, while the Muskies finished hitting .115 with 30 kills and 19 errors in 96 swings.

Lakeland is back in action Saturday with two matches in Whitewater. The Muskies take on Wheaton (Ill.) College at noon and then will face Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology at 2 p.m.