Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons (6-8 overall, 1-0 NACC)
at Lakeland University Muskies (3-11 overall, 1-0 NACC)
Thursday, September 26, 2024  7 p.m.
Woltzen Gymnasium
Lakeland/CUW Match Notes PDF
The Lakeland University women's volleyball team will go streakbusting when it looks to end an 11-year drought against Concordia University Wisconsin when the teams meet Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference women's volleyball match.
Broadcast InformationÂ
Live video:Â
http://www.lakelandmuskies.com/muskieslive.
Live statistics:Â
https://static.lakelandmuskies.com/custompages/stats/wvb/LS/xlive.htm
Series history:Â Lakeland and Concordia are long-time rivals in many sports, and volleyball is no exception. The two teams have been meeting regularly since the 1970s. The Falcons have been dominant in the series in recent years, winning 13 straight including two wins last year. The last matchup came in the 2023 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament, where CUW at home registered a 25-23, 25-18, 25-18 win in the quarterfinals. The teams also met in Mequon earlier in the season, and the Muskies won the opening set before Concordia came back to post an 18-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-18 victory back on Sept. 30. The Muskies' last win over the Falcons came in 2013 when they scored a hat trick that year, sweeping three matches including a five-set match in the NACC Tournament quarterfinals.
Lakeland last time out: Defeated Concordia Moorhead 3-0; Lost to UW-River Falls 3-0 Saturday
The Muskies picked up their second straight win in their first match Saturday at the UW-Stevens Point Pointer Invitational, sweeping the Cobbers 25-17, 25-17, 25-18.
Susana Stevens delivered 19 kills,
Rylee Esquibel added nine kills plus three service aces,
Sydney Gay finished with 34 assists and
Ryan Figi tabulated 16 digs. Lakeland then fell to River Falls 25-16, 27-25, 25-12, the Muskies' third loss to a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team this season. Stevens added eight kills against UWRF and was named to the all-tournament team.
Caitlyn Pernsteiner also added 14 digs against River Falls.
Record watch: Stevens is up to 166 kills this season, a number that ranks fourth in the NACC, and her 3.39 kills per set is third in the conference. The senior is up to 947 career kills, 10th all-time in Muskies history and putting her 53 kills from becoming the ninth player in program history to reach 1,000 kills.
Concordia last time out: Defeated Lake Forest (Ill.) 3-0 Tuesday
The Falcons finished with a 25-23, 25-19, 25-17 sweep in a non-conference match two nights ago that wasn't as easy as a 3-0 final would suggest. The Foresters led 18-14 late in the first set before Concordia rallied to win, and Lake Forest also held a 19-17 lead late in the second set before CUW closed on an 8-0 run. The Falcons led start-to-finish in the third set to clinche the sweep, led by Paige Stickney with 10 kills without an error in 18 attacks. Abby Proefrock added 13 digs and three service aces.
Concordia is a perennial contender in the NACC that last year finished 15-14 overall and tied Lakeland in the standings with a 9-4 league mark. The Falcons, like the Muskies, have played a tough non-conference schedule; CUW's slate is ranked No. 36 in NCAA Division III in the Massey Ratings and has included a pair of losses to ranked teams and three losses to WIAC programs, while Lakeland's schedule is ranked No. 45 in the Massey Ratings and has included four teams currently ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA/NCAA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll.
