STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The Lakeland University women's volleyball team swept Ripon College before falling to North Central (Ill.) College at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointer Invitational Saturday.

The Muskies took care of Ripon 26-24, 25-17, 25-17 in their opening match in the morning before dropping three hard-fought sets to North Central, 27-25, 25-23, 27-25. Lakeland is now 5-9 overall on the season heading into the heart of its Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference schedule, with its next 11 matches now in conference play.

The Muskies hit a solid .232 against Ripon with 42 kills and just 16 errors in 112 attack attempts. Lakeland also played from ahead most of the match, save for the first set when they staged a huge comeback at set point to steal the opener.

The Muskies fell behind 4-0 to start the match and after rallying midway through the set had fallen back behind and at 24-18 were a point away from losing the set. Lakeland was able to fight off six set points, with Briuna Harper (Jr.-Waxahachie, Texas) posting a kill and a block and Brelynn Scoles (Sr.-Kewaskum, Wis.) turning in two kills, one to get the set to 24-24 and the second one on the Muskies' first set point to close out the set on an eight-point run.

Lakeland used another big run to take control of the second set, turning an early 5-2 deficit into a 17-8 lead, and also finished the third set strong with a 9-3 run to close the match. Susana Stevens (Jr.-Las Cruces, N.M.) finished with nine kills and Harper added five kills plus five blocks (two solo, three assisted) and two of the Muskies' seven service aces in the match.

The North Central match saw two evenly matched teams that combined for 29 ties and 16 lead changes over three sets. Lakeland will rue missed opportunities that included set points in both the first and third sets that the Cardinals went on to win past 25 points.

The Muskies came back from an early 14-8 deficit in the first match and later had set point at 24-22 before North Central rallied with a kill and a service ace to get back to 24-24. Lakeland would have a third set point at 25-24 but the Cardinals closed it out with three straight points.

North Central also would pull through late in the second and third sets, including coming back from 22-20 down late in the second set. The Cardinals also were down 25-24 in the third set after the Muskies had fought off a set point at 24-23, but North Central finished with three straight kills to win the set and the match.

Stevens and Kelly Swope (Sr.-Heyworth, Ill.) led Lakeland with eight kills each and Harper added seven kills without an error in 10 attacks on her way to receiving all-tournament team honors. Maeve Sullivan (Sr.-Chicago, Ill.) finished with 12 digs and three service aces and Scoles added 10 digs plus four service aces.
 
The Muskies are back home Thursday when they return to NACC play, hosting Dominican University at 7 p.m.