Box Score 1 | Box Score 3 The Lakeland College men's volleyball team put a challenge into two ranked opponents but came up empty in a pair of matches at its home triangular Saturday afternoon.

The Muskies were defeated by 11th-ranked Mount St. Joseph (Ohio) University in four sets (25-18, 25-27, 25-22, 25-20). Lakeland then lost to UC Santa Cruz, falling in four sets (20-25, 25-15, 25-13, 25-15) against the No. 4-ranked team in the most recent AVCA/NCAA Division III Top 15 Coaches' Poll.

The Muskies (8-4 overall, 1-1 MCVL) won a set against both opponents and were competitive throughout against Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League foe Mount St. Joseph. Lakeland was unable to match the block of both teams, though, as its two opponents combined for 32 blocks.

Mount St. Joseph piled up 19 blocks in the highly competitive first match, in which the teams were tied a collective 40 times over four sets. The Lions also rallied at the end of both the third and fourth sets, coming back to win after the Muskies held a 19-18 lead in both sets.

Lakeland got off to a blazing start in the second match against UC Santa Cruz, taking advantage of 10 attack errors by the Banana Slugs (7-2 overall). The guests from California were nearly flawless over the final three sets, though, hitting over .500 in all three and recording just four errors total in that time.

Matt Stolz (Jr.-Wauwatosa, Wis.) finished with 24 kills over the two matches, including 16 in the opener. Casey Bolda (Jr.-Honolulu, Hawaii) added 20 kills, 14 coming in the first match, while Kyle Krogstad (Sr.-Chicago, Ill.) also chipped in 16 kills, including a team-best 10 in the second match.

Addison Mertler (Fr.-Boca Raton, Fla.) finished with 66 assists on the day. Krogstad led the team with 21 digs and Christian Frahm (Jr.-Palatine, Ill.) added 18 digs.

In the middle match of the day, UC Santa Cruz defeated Mount St. Joseph in four sets (25-16, 20-25, 25-22, 25-17).

The Muskies return to action Friday when they make a trip to Michigan to face Adrian (Mich.) College at 6 p.m. in an MCVL match.