RIVER FOREST, Ill. – Dominican (Ill.) University rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the match, scoring six of the final eight points in the fifth set to defeat the Lakeland College men's volleyball team in a Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League match Saturday afternoon.
The Stars won the match 22-25, 25-19, 13-25, 25-15, 15-12. The loss was the first of two on the day for the Muskies, who also faced a Massachusetts Institute of Technology team ranked 11th in the most recent AVCA NCAA Division III Top 15 Coaches Poll. Lakeland also lost that match 25-22, 25-21, 25-23 to drop to 9-9 overall this season.
The match against Dominican (6-5 overall, 6-1 MCVL) was one of wild swings. The Muskies hit at superb rates in the first set (.379 attack percentage) and third set (.650 attack, with 13 kills and zero errors), but struggled in particular in the second and fourth sets and let a lead slip away late in the fifth set.
Lakeland led 7-4 in the fifth set and still held a 10-9 lead after a kill by
Jeremy Mark (
Sr.-Roselle, Ill.), but the Stars scored five of the next six points. The Muskies rallied with one point but Dominican finished the match on the next point to win for the first time in four matches between the two teams.
Matt Stolz (
So.-Wauwatosa, Wis.) recorded 15 kills and
Alec Redlich (
Sr.-Wauwatosa, Wis.) added 12 kills.
Jordan Smith (
Sr.-Channahon, Ill.) finished with 47 assists and a team-high 10 digs, and
Tim Robbins (
So.-Wheaton, Ill.) added eight blocks (two solo, six assisted).
Lakeland was very competitive in the second match against the Beavers (13-2 overall), leading for much of the first of the first two sets and staying ahead for almost all of the third set before slipping late. The Muskies were doomed by 25 attack errors, part of a .152 attack percentage for the match.
Kyle Krogstad (
Jr.-Chicago, Ill.) led the Muskies with nine kills and seven digs. Robbins added eight kills and five assisted blocks, and Smith totaled 34 assists. The match was Lakeland's fourth against a ranked team in eight days and sixth against a ranked opponent this month. The team is now 3-6 in nine total matches against top 15 teams season.
Lakeland is back home Wednesday when it hosts Benedictine (Ill.) University at 7 p.m. at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
