2025 Lakeland Women's Volleyball Recap

Head Coach: Ryan Schopf (12th year)
Assistant Coaches: Jake Jurney (1st year) Allie Byrne (6th year), Allison Errthum (7th year)
Record: 16-14, 10-3 in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference
NACC Finish: 4th of 14 teams
Home Record: 5-4
Road Record: 6-3
Neutral Record: 5-7
Long Winning Streak: 10 matches
Long Losing Streak: 4 matches
Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament Finish: 0-1. Lost to No. 5 seed Concordia Wisconsin 3-0 in quarterfinals
Record vs. nationally ranked teams: 0-3
All-NACC Team: Samya Hughes (1st Team, Freshman of Year), Sydney Gay (2nd Team), Maleigha Kovalaske (2nd Team), Faith Baker (Honorable Mention)
NACC Player of the Week: Samya Hughes (Oct. 12, Offense)
NACC All-Academic Team: TBA this summer
CSC Academic All-District Team: Faith Baker, Sydney Gay, Katelyn Kitsembel, Maleigha Kovalaske
Leader in kills: Samya Hughes (435)
Leader in assists: Sydney Gay (1,021)
Leader in service aces: Maleigha Kovalaske (29)
Leader in digs: Ryan Figi (319)
Leader in blocks: Faith Baker (70) 

Single-match highs:
Kills: Samya Hughes, 27 at Concordia Wisconsin, Oct. 25
Hitting Percentage: Maleigha Kovalaske, .632 (12 kills, 1 error in 19 total attacks) at Rockford, Oct. 11
Assists: Sydney Gay, 56 at Concordia Wisconsin, Oct. 25
Service Aces: Rylee Esquibel, 6 vs Concordia Wisconsin, Sept. 26
Digs: Samya Hughes, 24 vs St. Scholastica, Aug. 29
Blocks: Faith Baker, 7 at St. Norbert, Oct. 2 
 
Season Highlights:

• Qualified for the NACC Tournament for the 14th time in last 15 years
• Finished at least .500 in conference play for 14th time in 15 years
• Muskies defeated rival Concordia Wisconsin in the regular season for the second year in a row
• Hosted an NACC Tournament game for the first time since 2019
• Recorded ten conference wins for first time since 2019
• Won ten matches in a row for longest winning streak since winning ten in a row in 2001
• Played another strong non-conference schedule that included six members of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and five teams that reached the NCAA Division III Tournament including the eventual national champions (Wisconsin-Oshkosh)
• Samya Hughes notched 27 kills against Concordia Wisconsin to break a 29-year-old school record for kills in a match, passing the record of 25 held by Pam Adleman (1996) and Susana Stevens (2024)
• As a team Lakeland finished 3rd in the NACC in hitting percentage (.196), 4th in assist per set (11.07), 4th in kills per set (11.87) 5th in kills (1270), and 5th in assist (1185)
• Hughes became the first from Lakeland to be named NACC Women's Volleyball Freshman of the Year
• Hughes finished with the third-most kills in a season in program history with 435 kills
• Sydney Gay became the ninth player in program history and notched the 15th season in program history with at least 1,000 assists, finishing with 1,021 assists
• Five players (Gay, Hughes, Faith Baker, Maleigha Kovalaske, and Kenzie Jackson) played in all 30 matches
• Six players (Baker, Hughes, Jackson, Kovalaske, Rylee Esquibel and Caitlyn Pernsteiner) finished with at least 100 kills
• Five players (Esquibel, Figi, Gay, Hughes and Kovalaske) finished with at least 200 digs
• Five players (Baker, Gay, Hughes, Jackson and Kovalaske) finished with at least 30 blocks
• Hughes finished 1st in the NACC in total kills (435), kills per set (4.07) and total attacks (1,181)
• Gay finished 1st in the NACC in total assists (1,021) and 2nd in assists per set (9.54)
• Baker finished 5th in the NACC in hitting percentage (.265) and 9th in total blocks (74),
• Pernsteiner finished 6th in the NACC in hitting percentage (.264)
• Figi finished 9th in NACC in digs per set (3.26)
• Hughes also finished 27th in the NCAA Division III in both kills and attacks per set, 32nd in total kills, 36th in total attacks, and 39th in total points (477)
• Gay finished 32nd in the NCAA Division III in assists and 38th in assists per set