DE PERE, Wis. – Lakeland University bounced back from a tough loss the night before to pick up a quality win, defeating Lawrence University in three sets Saturday morning to complete its two days at the St. Norbert College Chick-fil-A Invitational.
The Muskies topped the Vikings 25-23, 25-19, 25-23, earning a win over a Lawrence team receiving votes in the latest AVCA/NCAA Division III Top 25 women's volleyball coaches poll. Lakeland also played a pair of matches on Friday at the St. Norbert tourney, defeating Westminster (Mo.) College 33-31, 25-19, 26-24 before falling to St. Mary's (Minn.) University 25-20, 20-25, 24-26, 25-20, 16-14.
The Muskies (6-4 overall) closed with a win over Lawrence that included rallies late to win the first and third sets. Lakeland trailed 22-19 late in the first set before finishing on a 6-1 run finished by a kill by
Faith Baker (
Jr.-Verona, Ill.) to win the set, and then was down 21-17 late in the third set before a 7-1 spree to take the lead, and a kill by
Samya Hughes (
So.-Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) on the second match point to close it out.
Lakeland hit .248 as a team with 41 kills to 13 errors in the win, with
Maleigha Kovalaske (
Jr.-Ripon, Wis.) posting 13 kills and Hughes adding 10 kills with just two errors in 23 attacks for a .348 hitting percentage.
Ryan Figi (
Sr.-Hartland, Wis.) also added a team-high 21 digs, finishing the weekend with 60 digs over the Muskies' three matches.
Lakeland also defeated Westminster on the strength of winning two close sets, including a first set that was the Muskies' longest this season so far. Lakeland fought off three set points, including one at 24-23 to stay in the match, and finally closed it out with a kill by Kovalaske and a Westminster attack error at 32-31 to finally end it. The Muskies also trailed 24-23 in the third set but finished with three straight points, including a block by
Emily R. Hansen (
Jr.-Mayville, Wis.) and
Laura Pearson (
Jr.-San Diego, Calif.) to get to 25-24 before a Bluejays attack error closed out the match.
The Muskies battled back time and again against St. Mary's, first coming back from losing the opening set to win the next two to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The Cardinals won the fourth set and then raced out to a 6-0 lead to start the fifth set, but Lakeland scored five straight points to tie at 13-13, including three kills from Hansen and a service ace by
Rylee Esquibel (
Jr.-Devine, Texas). The Muskies later fought off one match point with another kill by Hansen, but SMU scored the next two points to close it out and deal Lakeland its third five-set loss this season.
Hughes finished with 37 kills and a .295 hitting percentage in the tourney and was named to the all-tournament team. Kovalaske also totaled 39 kills and Hansen added 31 kills on the weekend.
Katie Westerholm (
Fr.-Prior Lake, Minn.) posted 67 assists plus six service aces and
Sydney Gay (
Jr.-Rice Lake, Wis.) added 60 assists over the three matches. Kovalaske also finished with 34 digs.
Carthage College finished 4-0 in the tourney while St. Mary's posted a 3-1 record, with its lone loss coming to Lawrence in four sets to close the event out.
Lakeland next goes on the road again, traveling to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, next weekend for the Coe College Mabel Lee Invite. The Muskies open with two matches on Friday, Sept. 18, first taking on host Coe at 4 p.m. before going against the University of Dubuque (Iowa) at 6:30 p.m.
