Marian University Sabres (1-16 overall, 0-3 NACC)
at Lakeland University Muskies (6-13 overall, 0-3 NACC)
Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025Â Â 7 p.m.
Woltzen Gymnasium
Lakeland/Marian Match Notes  PDF
Two teams looking for their first conference win of the season meet when the Lakeland University women's volleyball team hosts Marian University Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
Broadcast Information
Live video:Â
http://www.lakelandmuskies.com/muskieslive. Lakeland softball student-athlete Sam Marchant returns as the Voice of the Muskies this year and will call the play-by-play for Thursday's match.
Live statistics:Â
https://lakelandmuskies.com/sidearmstats/wvb/summary
Ticket Information:Â https://lakelandmuskies.com/sports/2017/11/3/ticket-policies
Series history:Â Lakeland and Marian are long-time rivals in volleyball dating back to the early years of the Muskies program in the 1970s. Series records are incomplete but Lakeland has dominated the teams' meetings over the last 20-plus years, winning 32 of the last 34 matchups dating back to 2002. The Muskies won on the road in Fond du Lac last year, prevailing 25-20, 25-21, 25-18 on Oct. 17, 2024 as
Susana Stevens delivered 11 kills without an error in 22 attacks. Lakeland's last match against Marian at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium was their closest shave in the series in some time, with the Sabres winning the first two sets before the Muskies rallied for a hard-earned 20-25, 23-25, 25-11, 25-22, 17-15 victory Oct. 12, 2023. Lakeland has won nine straight over Marian, while the Sabres' last win in the series came back in 2016 in a four-set victory at home in Fond du Lac.
Lakeland last time out: Lost to Aurora 3-0 Saturday
The Muskies were once again competitive with a quality team but again came up short, falling to the Spartans 25-16, 26-24, 25-20. Lakeland led 23-21 late in the second set and at one point served for the set, and the Muskies also led 16-15 later in the third set before Aurora finished strong.
Samya Hughes finished with 13 kills and
Maleigha Kovalaske added eight kills plus a team-high 15 digs.
Ryan Figi also added 13 digs and
Kenzie Jackson totaled three blocks. Lakeland hit .102 as a team with 35 kills and 23 errors and fell for the 10th time in 12 matches. Three of those losses came to teams currently ranked in the AVCA/NCAA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll, two came in five sets, and all three NACC losses have come to teams that finished in the top four in the conference last year.
Marian last time out: Lost to Illinois Tech 3-2 Saturday
The Sabres continued what has been a hard-luck season with another five-set loss, falling to the Scarlet Hawks 25-17, 23-25, 25-17, 19-25, 15-10. Marian twice rallied from a set down to tie the match but IIT came back from a 5-1 deficit in the third set with seven straight points to send the Sabres to their 12th straight loss. Jenna Butschlick led Marian with 11 kills, Natalie Dempze-Enkro and Kylie Krueger both totaled nine kills and Harley Bartels added eight kills.
Marian has lost four matches this season in five sets and has taken at least one set in eight of its 16 losses, including six of its last eight. The Sabres finished 11-19 overall and 4-9 in the NACC last year and qualified for the NACC Tournament two years ago. Blake Badtke is in his first year as head coach of the Marian women's program and in the spring completed his first year coaching the school's men's volleyball team.
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