PLYMOUTH, Wis. – The Lakeland University women's volleyball team again showed its mettle in a match going the distance, winning a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match in five sets for the third time in just over a week when it outlasted Concordia University Wisconsin Saturday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
The Muskies showed their toughness first in responding from a flat open set and then by taking control of the final set in a 14-25, 25-20, 25-22, 21-25, 15-8 victory over the Falcons. Lakeland solidified its hold on third place in the NACC standings, improving to 7-2 in conference and 16-7 overall after its sixth straight win.
The Muskies have won three of their last four matches in five sets, including going five just two nights earlier on the road at Illinois Tech. Lakeland in conference has turned around its trend from earlier in the season, when the team lost a trio of five-set matches in non-conference play in September.
Saturday night's match was on offensive buffet, with the Muskies hitting .301 (67 kills, 14 errors) and the Falcons not far behind with a .253 attacking percentage (66 kills, 21 errors). Lakeland hit at least .281 in each of the last four sets, and even in the first set posted a respectable .188 mark, while Concordia (11-11 overall, 4-5 NACC) hit ast least .311 in three different sets.
The difference came in the fifth set, where the Muskies played like the more experienced team against a Falcons squad that included five freshmen in the starting lineup. Concordia scored the first two points of the set, but Lakeland answered with a 9-1 spurt, including a trio of kills by
Faith Baker (
Jr.-Verona, Ill.).
From there,
Maleigha Kovalaske (
Jr.-Ripon, Wis.) helped take the Muskies home, adding three more kills, including kills for the final two points of the match. Her final kill came on the first match point and was her 20th of the night, her second straight match with at least 20 kills.
Samya Hughes (
So.-Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) also posted 16 kills and
Emily R. Hansen (
Jr.-Mayville, Wis.) added 15 kills with just two errors in 35 attacks for a .371 hitting percentage. Baker and
Caitlyn Pernsteiner (
Sr.-Arpin, Wis.) also added seven kills each and combined for no errors, hitting a combined .483 between the two.
Sydney Gay (
Jr.-Rice Lake, Wis.) and
Katie Westerholm (
Fr.-Prior Lake, Minn.) shared setting duties evenly with 28 assists each and
Ryan Figi (
Sr.-Hartland, Wis.) paced the team with 22 digs. Kovalaske also added 17 digs in a big double-double.
Kirsten Krause led Concordia Wisconsin with a career-high 25 kills and Natalie Nickolai added 11 kills plus 16 digs. Emily Dickmann also added a career-best 51 assists for the Falcons.
The Muskies have now won the last three regular season meetings-all in five sets-against Concordia, which is in its final year as a member of the NACC. Lakeland also gained a measure of revenge after falling to the Falcons in three sets in last year's NACC Tournament quarterfinals.
Lakeland is home again for its next match this coming Thursday against Wisconsin Lutheran College. The match start time has been moved up one hour and will now commence at 6 p.m. at the Woltzen Gymnasium.
