The Muskies will look to keep their perfect record against Alverno alive, though the Inferno have been a bit more stubborn the last two years. Lakeland has won the last two meetings in four sets, both in Milwaukee, including last year's 25-14, 25-11, 21-25, 25-14 victory. The 2022 matchup also included a Muskies 25-16, 21-25, 25-15, 25-18 win; before that Alverno had only claimed one set all-time against Lakeland, that coming in 2014 in a 3-1 win on the road in Milwaukee. The teams have been meeting regularly since 2004, the final year of the Lake Michigan Conference before both moved to the newly created Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference in 2005.

Lakeland last time out: Lost at Edgewood 3-0 Saturday
The Muskies lost for the third time in eight conference matches, falling on the road to the Eagles. Edgewood prevailed 25-17, 25-23, 25-15 to avenge a loss to Lakeland last season that was the Eagles' lone loss to a NACC team in the 2023 season. Susana Stevens posted a match-high 15 kills and moved into eighth place on the Muskies' career list for kills, but Lakeland had little other offense with 13 kills combined from the rest of the team. Isabella Westerholm added five kills and Rylee Esquibel led the team with eight digs. Lakeland also continued to struggle on Saturdays this season, dropping to 2-9 in matches played on Saturdays.

Alverno last time out: Lost at Rockford 3-0 Saturday
The Inferno were swept by the Regents 25-14, 25-19, 25-11 in their most recent match last weekend. Rolin West posted a match-high 17 kills but the rest of the Alverno team combined for just eight kills, and the team hit a collective .053 for the match. West and Izzy Gianniou both finished with 15 digs, Elyse Kozikowski added 12 digs and Gianniou served three aces. The Inferno lost their ninth straight match and remained winless at 0-8 in NACC play, with their wins this season coming against Maranatha Baptist (twice) and Mount Mary.

Bella on standby: Lakeland middle blocker Isabella Westerholm has quietly had a productive four years with the team as a hitter. Entering Thursday, the senior holds a .277 hitting percentage for her career, a number that is very near ranking as one of the top marks in program history. Westerholm's numbers are through 975 attack attempts, while Muskies career records maintain a minimum of 1,000 attacks to be included on the program's all-time career list for hitting percentage. Westerholm's current attack percentage would rate fourth-best in school history if she had enough attempts to qualify, and the best career mark by a Lakeland player since Kimberly Linger (.285 from 2006-09).