PLYMOUTH, Wis. – The Concordia Wisconsin women's volleyball team soars onto the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Women's Volleyball Tournament Semifinals with a convincing 3-0 sweep at Lakeland in the NACC Tournament Quarterfinals. The Falcons improve to 16-12 on the year with the 25-14, 25-11, 29-27 victory.
The feisty fans of the fish were vocal as Lakeland jumped out to an early 4-1 lead on Tuesday night. Senior Brianna Lundt (Rosendale, Wis.) quickly silenced the crowd as the Falcons rode her serve to a 9-4 lead. Senior Abby Proefrock (Grafton, Wis.) muted the Muskie fans as she capped off a 10-0 run with a service ace at 20-6. Lakeland cut into the lead late, but a kill from senior Skylar Kumprey (New Berlin, Wis.) ended the set at 25-14. Senior Paige Stickney (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) proved why she's the reigning NACC Offensive Player of the Week and hit 0.750 in the set with three kills. Proefrock hooked the Muskies with three service aces.
Junior Emily Dickmann (Grafton, Wis.) joined in on the fun as her serve put the Falcons up 9-2 in the second set. Abby Proefrock continued to punch the Muskies from the back line and the lead elevated to 18-6. The Birds cruised to a 5-1 run to end the set and a thunderous block from senior Ellie Juergensen (Cedarburg, Wis.) and Paige Stickney ended the set at 25-11.
It was all Muskies to start the third set and Woltzen Gymnasium was getting load as the Falcons called a timeout trailing 10-17. The Falcons trimmed the lead to 14-19, but the Muskies responded with the next three points to hold a 21-14 lead. The problem was for Lakeland, the Muskies killer, Abby Proefrock was back to serve and the lead immediately vanished, Proefrock tied the set at 22 with another service ace. The two teams tied the match five more time in the set before a kill from Abby Proefrock gave the Falcons the lead at 28-27 and a block from Paige Stickney and Ellie Juergensen ended the match at 29-27.
The Falcons proved to be very balanced on Tuesday with seven players with a kill, with Abby Proefrock leading the way with eight kills and also added five service aces. Sophomore McKenna Oetzman (Reedsburg, Wis.) led the Falcons with 13 assists and Emily Dickmann ended with 11.
Brianna Lundt proved once again why she is the best defender in the NACC with a match-high 13 digs.
Paige Stickney hosted the block party on Tuesday and finished with seven blocks.
The Falcons look to avenge another NACC loss on Saturday in the NACC Tournament Semifinals on Thursday, when they travel to Edgewood. Edgewood defeated Benedictine, 3-0. Aurora will host Illinois Tech in the other semifinal contest. Aurora defeated Wisconsin Lutheran 3-1 and Illinois Tech upset St. Norbert, 3-0.
