MILWAUKEE, Wis. (WLCSports.com) – Wisconsin Lutheran College recorded season highs in kills and assists and hit at one of its best clips of the year in a 3-1 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference victory over Lakeland on Tuesday at Time of Grace Center.
The Warriors (11-6, 5-2 NACC) won by set scores of 25-21, 25-19, 21-25, 26-24, finishing with 56 kills and 55 assists while posting a .385 hitting percentage, their second-highest mark of the season.
WLC seized control late in the opening set, breaking a 20-20 tie with a 5-1 run. A kill from senior
Drew Wempner (West Allis, Wis.) and back-to-back points off the serve of sophomore
Noah Kern (Brookfield, Wis.), including an ace, highlighted the surge to a 25-21 win.
Wisconsin Lutheran carried that momentum into the second set, using a 6-2 run to build a 16-11 advantage. Later, a 5-3 stretch pushed the lead to 21-16 before closing out a 25-19 victory behind efficient offense and balanced contributions.
The Muskies (8-13, 3-5 NACC) responded in the third set, turning a 10-10 tie into a 21-14 lead with a decisive 11-4 run. LU held on for a 25-21 win to extend the match.
In the fourth set, neither team led by more than two points down the stretch. Trailing 22-21, the Warriors answered with three of the next four points to reach match point. After Lakeland tied it at 24-24, a Muskie attack error and a match-ending kill from Kern sealed the 26-24 win.
Sophomore
Brady Pichler (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) led WLC with 21 kills, tying his own program record, while Kern added 11 kills and hit a program-record .625. Freshman
Adonis Hilton (Rockford, Ill.) contributed 13 kills, and Wempner finished with six.
Freshman
David Warren (Brookfield, Wis.) paced the offense with 32 assists, guiding Wisconsin Lutheran to its 55-assist total. Defensively, the Warriors totaled 9.0 team blocks, with multiple contributors at the net, and were led in digs by Pichler with eight and freshman
Ryder Vogt (Manitowoc, Wis.) with seven.
LU hit .258 as a team and was led by Colin Putchinski with 14 kills and Sage Xiong with 12. Chase Anderson directed the offense with 40 assists, while Lakeland recorded 5.0 team blocks and was led defensively by Luke Schultz's six digs.
WLC returns to action on Saturday, March 21, with a 7 p.m. conference match at Benedictine (9-9, 4-2 NACC). Live coverage links can be found at WLCSports.com.
Â
