Lakeland College

Muskies finish Red Hawk Invitational 2-2

Athletics - posted on 9/24/2011

The Lakeland College women's volleyball team went 1-2 at the Red Hawk Invitational hosted by Ripon College on Sept. 23-24.

The Muskies (4-13) lost their first two matches of the tournament to St. Mary's College, 3-2 (25-23, 25-21, 22-25, 19-25, 10-15), and Coe College, 3-0 (16-25, 14-25, 20-25). In their final match, they bounced back to beat host Ripon, 3-0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-19).

"We played well the first two sets against St. Mary's," said Lakeland head coach Jon Staabs. "We let them back in the game, allowed them to gain confidence and we couldn't close it out. Against Coe we struggled to find a rhythm and Brittany (Reindl) was off. In the third set, I played Melissa (Christiansen) at setter and Catherine (Benzie) at outside. They provided us with some energy and a nice rhythm on offense. Against Ripon, I continued to use Melissa at setter and Catherine played outside. We played a clean game and got into a nice rhythm. Catherine provided us with a spark off the bench and Melissa was giving our hitters a good, hittable ball every time."

Sophomore middle hitter Amanda Dillman (Sheboygan, Wis.) led the Muskies with 29 kills, five service aces, and was tied for the team lead with eight blocks. Fellow middle blocker, senior Allison Davis (Sheboygan, Wis.) was named to the all-tournament team with 25 kills, two service aces, and seven blocks.

Sophomore outside Katie Freitag (Kiel, Wis.) was active on offense and defense as she had 21 kills, four service aces, eight blocks, and led the team with 40 digs. Freshman outside Benzie (Iron Mountain, Mich.) also played well, posting ten kills 13 digs in just two matches.

Sophomore setters Reindl (Kenosha, Wis.) and Christiansen (Valders, Wis.) had 48 and 49 assists respectively, with Christansen adding 24 digs and one block in three matches.

The Muskies played the University of Wisconsin-Marathon County on the first day of competition in an exhibition match. Lakeland won in three sets, but per NCAA regulations the win and the stats do not count.

The Muskies return to action Tuesday when they travel to Wauwatosa, Wis., to face Northern Athletics Conference foe Wisconsin Lutheran College for a 7 p.m. match.

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