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Lakeland wins season opener at UW-Whitewater


Athletics - posted on 1/27/2009

The No. 12 Lakeland men's volleyball team began its quest to repeat as national champions on a positive note Tuesday night.

The Muskies (1-0) started their 2009 campaign with a 25-13, 25-23, 21-25, 25-14 victory over No. 26 UW-Whitewater in a Wisconsin Volleyball Conference contest at Whitewater.

Lakeland coach Chad Schreiber was pleased with the way the Muskies took control of the first set, eventually winning by a large margin.

"We are both teams trying to find a rhythm," Schreiber said. "Even with three new guys in our starting line-up, we were able to set the tempo early."

After struggling in the second and third sets, the Muskies jumped out in a large lead in the fourth set.

"In the middle two sets, we struggled with our serve receive and on a few things offensively," Schreiber said. "It was great to get that big lead in the fourth set and close out the match. UW-Whitewater is a very good team, and we didn't want to let them climb back into the match."

Senior outside hitter Joe Julkowski (Carol Stream, Ill.) tallied 20 kills and five service aces for the Muskies. Senior middle hitter Jared Rohland (Fort Atkinson) posted 11 kills and seven blocks, while freshman setter Mitch Wiskirchen (Schaumburg, Ill.) registered 45 assists in his Lakeland debut.

Defensively, the Muskies were led by freshman libero Andy Cheever (Milwaukee), who had 11 digs.

After a pair of JV matches scheduled for this Saturday and next Tuesday, the varsity Lakeland squad returns to action next Wednesday, Feb. 4, against Carthage for its home opener. Match time is set for 7:30 p.m. at Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

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