MILWAUKEE – The Lakeland College men's volleyball team put an end to nearly a month's worth of frustrations against nationally ranked teams, pulling off a surprising four-set win over third-ranked Kean (N.J.) University Saturday afternoon.

The Muskies knocked off one of the very top teams in the AVCA/NCAA Division III Top 15 Coaches Poll, coming from behind for a 14-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-19 win. The match was played on a neutral court in the Kern Center at Milwaukee School of Engineering.

The win came immediately after a disappointing five-set loss to MSOE, as the Raiders rallied for a 25-13, 17-25, 28-30, 25-16, 15-9 win. That loss left Lakeland at 0-5 this season in five-set matches, but the Muskies made up for it with their biggest win of the season in the second match.

Lakeland (12-13 overall) was buried quickly in the first set and fell behind 5-0 to start the second set before the match turned around. Trailing 8-3 while still early in the set, the Muskies scored 12 of the next 15 points to take the lead and closed out the set with kills by Anthony Puccini (So.-Downers Grove, Ill.) and Dan Matijevic (So.-Palatine, Ill.).

The momentum carried through the third and fourth sets, with the Cougars (20-2 overall) slowing way down from their .474 hitting clip in the first set. Kean hit just .133 in the third set and .067 in the fourth set, and Lakeland took the lead early in both sets and pulled away in the fourth set to close out the match.

Tim Robbins (So.-Wheaton, Ill.) finished with 12 kills and just one error in 18 attempts for a sterling .611 hitting percentage. Puccini added 11 kills and Matijevic also finished with a career-high 10 kills.

Jordan Smith (Sr.-Channahon, Ill.) recorded 44 assists and also finished 13 kills. Cole Aiazzi (Sr.-Yerington, Nev.) keyed the defense with 20 digs, his third match this season with 20-plus digs.

The Muskies held a 2-1 lead after three sets of the first match but couldn't hold on as the Raiders won convincingly the final two sets of the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League match.

Matt Stolz (So.-Wauwatosa, Wis.) posted a career-high 19 kills while Alec Redlich (Sr.-Wauwatosa, Wis.) added 12 kills and 12 digs. Smith had 43 assists and 12 digs, Aiazzi led the team with 14 digs and Kyle Krogstad (Jr.-Chicago, Ill.) also chipped in 13 digs.

Lakeland's schedule gets no easier, as its next match is Tuesday against the State University of New York at New Paltz, currently ranked fourth in Division III. The match will be played in Milwaukee at 6 p.m.