MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Lakeland University women's volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the match and came through in the final set to defeat the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in five sets Friday evening at the Augsburg University Invitational.
The Muskies rallied from down a set twice in the match to prevail 16-25, 25-22, 15-25, 25-17, 15-11. Lakeland broke through to defeat a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team for the first time since 2018, when the Muskies defeated UW-La Crosse and later UW-Oshkosh that season. Lakeland also improved to 1-3 against WIAC schools this season, with four of its first six non-conference matches coming against squads from the Wisconsin state schools NCAA Division III conference, including three against nationally ranked teams.
The Muskies (2-4 overall) rebounded from sluggish first and third sets, first by pulling out a close second set. The Eagles (4-2 overall) came back from four points down to take a 21-19 lead late, but Lakeland responded with a 6-1 run to close the set. A service ace by
Maeve Sullivan (
Sr.-Chicago, Ill.) put gave the Muskies a 22-21 lead, and the set ended when
Katie Metzler (
Sr.-Kewaunee, Wis.) and
Emily Dickmann (
Fr.-Grafton, Wis.) put up the wall for a block on set point.
Lakeland also came back from losing the third set to never again trail in the fourth or fifth sets. The Muskies started the fourth set with a 7-0 run, with Dickmann and Metzler both registering kills and adding another block and
Kelly Swope (
Sr.-Heyworth, Ill.) serving an ace. UWL came back to score eight of the next 10 points to get within one, but Lakeland again picked up the pace and outscored the Eagles 16-9 the rest of the way.
The Muskies also jumped out to leads of 3-0 and 6-1 in the fifth set.
Katelyn Kitsembel (
So.-Lake Mills, Wis.) served a pair of aces and
Brelynn Scoles (
Sr.-Kewaskum, Wis.) and
Susana Stevens (
Jr.-Las Cruces, N.M.) added three kills each in the set, the last coming from Stevens at match point for her match-high 17th kill.
Scoles and Swope both also finished with eight kills each as the Muskies won despite being outhit .170 to .128, with Lakeland posting 47 kills and 27 errors. Sullivan (five) and Kitsembel (three) accounted for eight service aces as the Muskies finished with a 9-4 advantage in that category.
Dickmann led the setting duties with 26 assists and Sullivan posted a team-high 15 digs. Scoles and Swope added 13 and 11 digs, respectively.
Gabrialla Johnson led UW-La Crosse with 16 kills and Brianne Korducki added 10 kills plus 18 digs. The Eagles finished with 52 kills and 28 errors on the attack and added nine blocks.
The Muskies are in action again Saturday to face host school Augsburg at 12:15 p.m. Lakeland then will take on St. Catherine (Minn.) University at 4:45 p.m.
