Carthage College Firebirds (21-12 overall in 2025)
at Lakeland University Muskies (16-14 overall in 2025)
Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026Â Â 7 p.m.
Woltzen Gymnasium
Lakeland/Carthage Match Notes  PDF
The Lakeland University women's volleyball team opens a season with high hopes starting at home for its first and only home match of September when it welcomes Carthage College for a 7 p.m. start Tuesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
Broadcast Information
Live video:Â
http://www.lakelandmuskies.com/muskieslive. Lakeland softball student-athlete Sam Marchant is again the Voice of the Muskies this year and calls the play-by-play.
Live statistics:Â
https://lakelandmuskies.com/sidearmstats/wvb/summary
Ticket Information:Â https://lakelandmuskies.com/sports/2017/11/3/ticket-policies
Series history:Â 23rd meeting, Carthage leads 16-6
The Muskies and Firebirds meet for the first time in exactly four years, the same time and place since the teams opened the 2022 season at Lakeland with Carthage sweeping to a 25-20, 25-18, 25-22 victory at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium. Carthage has won 10 straight over the Muskies dating back to 2004, while Lakeland's last win in the series came with a 3-0 victory on the road in Kenosha Sept. 25, 2003. The series dates back to 1984, when Carthage won in two sets in a match in a tournament hosted by UW-Milwaukee.
About Lakeland: The Muskies open the new season at home, and in what will be the team's only home match of September. After its season debut, Lakeland will not play again at the Woltzen Gym until Oct. 1 and a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match against St. Norbert, with 14 straight matches away from home in that time, including three tournaments.
The Muskies enter the season with great anticipation after posting a 16-14 record last year and tying for fourth in the NACC standings. Lakeland won 10 straight matches to close the regular season before a quarterfinal loss in the NACC Tournament, and the Muskies return five starters and the libero from last year's team, including four all-NACC selections. Outside hitter
Samya Hughes was a first team all-conference pick and NACC Freshman of the Year last year while ranking among the NCAA Division III leaders in kills, while setter
Sydney Gay (2nd Team), hitter
Maleigha Kovalaske (2nd Team) and middle blocker
Faith Baker (Honorable Mention) also all received conference accolades.
About Carthage: The Firebirds also come into the season with lofty expectations after finishing 21-12 last year and tying for second in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin with a 5-3 mark, advancing to the CCIW Tournament final before losing to top seed Illinois Wesleyan.
Carthage enters the season receiving votes in the AVCA/NCAA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll, and four starters return from last year's squad including honorable mention All-American Kristina Manojlovic, who finished 10th nationally in Division III last year with 482 kills. Coach Leanne Ulmer is in her 26th year as head coach at Carthage and has won 628 matches in her career at the Kenosha school.
