THE OVERVIEW

• Results: Maranatha 0-3 Lakeland (10-25, 17-25, 15-25)
• Venue: Woltzen Gymnasium, Lakeland University
• Attendance: 145
• Record: Sabercats are now 1-4
• Next Match for MBU: Friday, Feb. 2 at CUW Tri

THE LEAD

PLYMOUTH, Wis. -- In a tough away match at Lakeland University, the Sabercats fell to a hungry Muskie squad in straight sets.

MBU managed just 16 kills in the match, as they had a hard time finding the holes in a scrappy Muskie defense. With the loss, the Sabercats are now 1-4 for their inaugural season.

THE STORY

Lakeland came out swinging. Registering 7 quick kills to take a 10-2 lead in the set, LU forced Coach Torey Rosen to call a timeout to try to offset the Muskies' rhythm.

After some errors blemished the MBU stat sheet in the middle of the set, the Muskies' attack finished the job late on, as they logged 4 kills in quick succession to seal out a comfortable first set.

Once the Sabercats shook off the rust from a week without playing a match, they seemed to settle into a more competitive rhythm in the second set - some early kills from Derek Wallis pushed MBU out to a 14-8 lead.

The momentum would come to a jolting halt at that point, however, as the Muskies managed to string together a 13-1 run to turn the set on its head. When all was said and done, the Muskies secured an unlikely set win and were on the brink of ending the match in 3 sets.

And end it they did. Lakeland saved their best for last, as they utilized a .406 attack percentage and 16 kills to secure a 3-set win. The Sabercats stayed competitive in the early goings, but once the Muskies found their offensive flow, they proved to be an unstoppable force.

THE NUMBERS

Wallis and Andrew Carpenter both finished with 6 kills for MBU.

Matt Wetzel recorded 10 assists and 6 digs.

Joel Depue was credited with 14 digs on the day.

THE CALENDAR

The Sabercats will travel to Concordia-Wisconsin next Friday for a triangular. Maranatha's matches will begin at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Catch the details at mbusabercats.com/composite.