Women’s Volleyball sweeps Lakeland in a battle of reigning NACC champions

MEQUON, Wis. – The Falcons came out on top of a hard-fought battle between two of the reigning NACC champions on Sunday afternoon in the season opener. The Falcons picked up a pair of 3-0 and 3-2 victories over Lakeland.

The Blue and White squished the fish to the tune of a 25-23, 28-26, 25-18 victory to start the day.

The first set was a sign that both teams were going to have to fight tooth and nail to earn each point on Sunday. Neither team was able to grow a lead larger than three points to start the match. The Falcons were able to push the lead up to 18-14 behind the serve of sophomore Jenna Chaussee (Chilton, Wis.), but that would be the biggest lead of the set for either team. With the set tied at 23, freshman Maycee Karpfinger (Wauwatosa, Wis.) broke the tie with a kill and the Falcons took the set with an attack error from Lakeland on the next point. Junior McKenna Nigl (Richland Center, Wis.) led the flock with three kills.

The Falcons took an early lead on the Muskies and used a 6-2 run to take a 14-9 lead. The Muskies would not fold and tied the set at 24. CUW fought off a set point at 25-26 to stay alive and was aided by a service ace from sophomore Sierra Lee (Kenosha, Wis.) to give the Falcons a 27-26 lead before once again taking the set on a Lakeland attack error. Junior Sophia Collins (Lake Mills, Wis.) landed four kills in the set.

The serve of Sophia Collins helped break open the third set for the Falcons. Tied at 17, CUW used a 6-0 run to put the set out of reach. Jenna Chaussee had two kills in the run. McKenna Nigl secured the match with a kill to put the final nail in the Muskies' coffin. The Falcons hit .355 in the third set to clinch the match.

McKenna Nigl finished the match with eight kills, while Jenna Chaussee had seven. Junior Olivia Richter (Naperville, Ill.) threw herself a block party in the first match with three blocks in the victory.

Junior Makenzie Vertz (Mukwonago, Wis.) secured a double-double performance with 16 assists and 11 digs.

Like the first match, every point was a battle in the final match of the day.

The Muskies led for a majority of the first set in the second match. CUW was able to hold brief leads at 8-7 off a kill by Sierra Lee and 19-18 with a kill off the hand of Sophia Collins, but the Muskies closed the set out at 26-24. Sophia Collins collected six kills for CUW in the set.

The Falcons flipped the script on the finish in the second set and stayed in the driver's seat from start to finish. Maycee Karpfinger ended the set with a kill at 25-20.

The serve of junior Madelyn Alton (Farwell, Minn.) gave the Muskies issues on Sunday. With the set tied at six, the Falcons soared to an 11-6 lead with the serve of Alton. The Muskies nibbled the lead to two points on three occasions, but the Falcons closed out the set with a 25-20 victory. CUW hit .308 as a team in the third set. Sophia Collins and Olivia Richter led CUW with four kills in the set.

Lakeland cruised in the fourth set to a 25-13 victory to force a fifth set.

CUW started the fifth set on fire and took an early 5-0 lead behind the serving of junior Annie Marie Olszowka (Bolingbrook, Ill.), who landed one service ace in the run. Lakeland showed some fight and trimmed the lead to 10-8, but the Falcons reeled in the Muskies with a 15-10 victory to secure the sweep.

Sophia Collins had a team-high 14 kills in the second match.

Madelyn Alton raked in 23 digs in a solid defensive showing. Sophomore Hannah Himmelman (Geneseo, Ill.) had three blocks against the Muskies.

Maycee Karpfinger had a double-double performance with 10 kills and 10 digs.

CUW looks to keep the ball moving on Saturday with a pair of matches at Wisconsin Lutheran.