PLYMOUTH, Wis. –
Maleigha Kovalaske (
Jr.-Ripon, Wis.) and
Emily R. Hansen (
Jr.-Mayville, Wis.) played big on the attack and the Lakeland University women's volleyball team is moving on in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament for the first time in seven years after a three-set sweep of Wisconsin Lutheran College Tuesday night.
Kovalaske and Hansen combined for 28 kills and the Muskies topped the Warriors 25-12, 25-21, 25-19 in their NACC Tournament quarterfinal match hosted at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium. Third-seeded Lakeland moves on to the semifinals and will face No. 2 seed Edgewood University Thursday night in Madison at 7 p.m., after the Eagles edged No. 7 seed Concordia University Wisconsin in five sets Tuesday night.
The Muskies snapped a five-game losing streak in the NACC tourney that included quarterfinal exits each of the last four years. Lakeland earned its first win in the tourney since 2019 and now will attempt to advance past the semifinals for the first time since 2009, when the Muskies won the NACC Tournament and made their most recent trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Muskies also reached the 20-win mark in a season for the first time since 2018.
Lakeland came out on fire against sixth-seeded Wisconsin Lutheran on Tuesday, scoring eight consecutive points to take an 8-1 lead in the first set. The Muskies never let up, hitting a robust .393 in the set led by six kills by Hansen, and setter
Sydney Gay (
Jr.-Rice Lake, Wis.) reached a milestone in the set with her 2,000th career assist, making her the ninth player in program history to reach that mark.
Lakeland also raced out to a 10-2 lead in the second set before hitting some bumps. The Warriors found their footing and got back into the set and more, taking a 20-17 lead after a four-point run capped by a kill by Alex Emberger.
The Muskies responded in fine fashion, coming back with an 8-1 run to finish the set. Kovalaske posted a pair of kills and Lakeland's defense extended rallies eventually leading to five attack errors by WLC in the run, including back-to-back ones to close the set.
The Muskies never trailed in the third set and pulled away in the second half of the set, with a 9-3 lead stretching the lead to 22-14 late. Kovalaske heated up in the final set with 10 of her match-high 16 kills.
Kovalaske and Hansen combined to post more kills than the entire Wisconsin Lutheran team, with Hansen also adding 12 kills. The two also combined for a .382 hitting percentage, including Hansen hitting .500 with 12 kills and two errors in 20 attacks.
Lakeland hit .225 as a team with 39 kills and 16 errors. The Muskies also shut down WLC for the second time this season to a negative hitting percentage (-.019 with 23 kills and 25 errors) after the Warriors hit .000 in the teams' first meeting 12 days earlier, also a 3-0 Lakeland sweep.
Ryan Figi (
Sr.-Hartland, Wis.) paced the back row defense with 19 digs and
Rylee Esquibel (
Jr.-Devine, Texas) added 13 digs. Gay finished with 19 assists and now has 2,014 assists in her Lakeland career.
Lakeland will meet Edgewood for the second time this season and will look for a better showing than the teams' first meeting. The Eagles swept the Muskies 25-17, 25-18, 25-14 at home in Madison on Sept. 24, as Lakeland hit a season-low .048 for the match.
