St. Norbert Opens NACC Play With Four-Set Loss to Lakeland

From Asst. AD/Athletics Communications, March 3, 2020 | Men's Volleyball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College played its first match in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference action with a 3-1 loss to Lakeland University at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center. The Muskies prevailed by scores of 25-21, 22-25, 25-19, 25-18.

St. Norbert fell behind to open the match 2-0 before going on a 5-0 run to take a 5-2 lead. The Green Knights and Muskies then battled back and forth with the last tie being at 15-15, with Lakeland eventually taking a 20-16 lead. St. Norbert got back to within 22-21 late in the first set but the Muskies closed out the set with three consecutive points.

The Green Knights trailed 19-12 in the second set before getting four straight points to get back to within 20-16. The Muskies held a 22-17 lead before Josh Hauke served seven straight points to give St. Norbert an 8-0 run to close out the set victory.

In the third set, St. Norbert led 7-6 but eventually Lakeland would build leads of 15-9 and 17-11. The Green Knights got to within 20-16 but would get no closer than four points. Lakeland then took a 5-1 lead in the fourth set but St. Norbert would come back and take a 12-10 lead. Lakeland would score the next five points after that to pull ahead and the Green Knights didn't get closer than two points the rest of the way.

St. Norbert hit .129, getting 33 kills and 20 errors in 101 attempts. Hauke led the Green Knights with eight kills, while Jake Bettag and Sean Loughney had seven kills apiece. Eddie Pacula finished with 15 assists, while Ben Rinella had 12. Brent Hatfield and Jake Krueger had seven digs apiece, while Bettag finished with four blocks. Hauke and Krueger totaled three blocks each.

Lakeland hit .190, with 47 kills against 25 errors in 116 attempts. Nathan Vanderwaal led the Muskies with 29 kills.