DE PERE, Wis. (WLCSports.com) – Freshman
Brady Pichler (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) posted his sixth double-double of the season to lead Wisconsin Lutheran College to a 3-1 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference win over St. Norbert on Saturday at Mulva Family Fitness and Sports Center.
The Warriors (7-10, 4-2 NACC), who hit over .300 for the second time this season, got back in the win column with their first-ever win over the Green Knights. WLC defeated SNC by scores of 25-22, 25-18, 23-25, 25-19.
Wisconsin Lutheran never trailed in the first set, building a pair of six-point leads, including 13-7. St. Norbert came as close as one point at 19-18 before a 4-1 spurt from the Warriors pushed them to the 25-22 opening set victory.
WLC jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third set, only to see the Green Knights come back and take their first and only lead at 9-8. With the set tied at 10-10, Wisconsin Lutheran scored three in a row to take a lead it would never relinquish. Leading 20-17, the Warriors closed the set on a 5-1 run to take a 2-0 lead thanks to a 25-18 win.
WLC once again held an early 4-1 lead in the third set before SNC climbed back to take its first lead at 11-10. Following seven ties, St. Norbert broke an 18-18 draw with three straight points and never let go of its lead for a 25-23 victory.
Wisconsin Lutheran erased an early 4-2 fourth-set deficit with a 9-1 scoring run to take an 11-5 lead. The Warriors increased their advantage to as many as nine points on three separate instances, before coming away with a 25-19 win.
Pichler recorded a match-high 20 kills and tied a match-high with 15 digs for his sixth double-double of the season. Junior
Drew Wempner (West Allis, Wis.) tallied a season-high 14 kills for a .520 hitting percentage to go along with a match-high five total blocks. Freshman
Noah Kern (Brookfield, Wis.) contributed 12 kills. Senior
James Biedenbender (La Crosse, Wis.) collected a career-high 42 assists. Pichler, Wempner, and Biedenbender added two aces each. Pichler and sophomore
Josh Ward (Mukwonago, Wis.) also finished with four total blocks apiece. WLC recorded its second-highest hitting percentage of the season (.315), with 52 kills, 13 errors, and 124 attempts.
Bennett Kornaus (13 kills, 12 digs) and Michael Whitney (44 assists, 10 digs) posted double-doubles for the Green Knights (7-12, 2-5 NACC), who hit .173 with 52 kills, 28 errors, and 139 attempts.
Wisconsin Lutheran is idle until Wednesday, March 19 when it visits Concordia Chicago (6-12, 1-4 NACC) for a 7 p.m. NACC match in River Forest, Illinois. Live coverage links can be found at WLCSports.com.
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