PLYMOUTH, Wis. – The Lakeland University women's volleyball team took care of business quickly, in control from start to finish in a sweep of Alverno College Thursday night in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
The Muskies cruised to a 25-7, 25-13, 25-10 victory in just over an hour, keeping their perfect record in the series with the Inferno intact. Lakeland won its 23rd straight against Alverno all-time and improved to 8-16 overall this year and 6-3 in the NACC.
The Muskies set season highs in attack percentage and service aces, including hitting .393 for the match with 41 kills and eight errors in 84 attacks. Lakeland also served 16 aces, easily besting its season high and the most since also notching 16 aces against Carroll University Oct. 9, 2021. The Muskies haven't racked up more aces in a match since posting 17 aces against Rockford University over nine years ago on Oct. 17, 2015.
Lakeland never trailed in the match and was tied just once, when Alverno (3-18 overall, 0-9 NACC) briefly knotted the score at 1-1 in the second set. The Muskies would follow with a 14-1 run, one of a number of scoring streaks on a night that also included nine straight points to close out the first set and a 10-0 run to begin the third set.
Susana Stevens (
Sr.-Las Cruces, N.M.) tallied 18 kills and hit .469 for the match,
Isabella Westerholm (
Sr.-Prior Lake, Minn.) also posted eight kills and a .583 attack percentage and
Rylee Esquibel (
Fr.-Devine, Texas) chipped in six kills.
Esquibel and
Roseily Carrasquillo (
Sr.-Yabucoa, Puerto Rico) also finished with four service aces.
Ryan Figi (
So.-Hartland, Wis.) added three aces plus a team-high 11 digs and
Sydney Gay (
Fr.-Rice Lake, Wis.) finished 21 assists plus two solo blocks.
Rolin West led Alverno with eight kills, but the Inferno as a team hit -.014 with 13 kills and 14 errors. Izzy Gianniou and Sharisty Kooch added eight digs each.
Lakeland is home again Saturday to face Rockford at noon in what also will be Senior Day for the team.
