The Lakeland College men's volleyball team was unable to slow down red-hot No. 3-ranked Carthage College in a three-set loss Saturday afternoon at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Red Men came in ranked among the nation's top teams in the latest AVCA/NCAA Division III Top 15 Coaches Poll and won their 20th straight match, improving to 22-1 overall and 10-0 in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League. Lakeland lost to a nationally ranked team for the second straight day and dropped to 15-8 overall and 8-3 in the MCVL.

The Muskies were unable to penetrate the towering Carthage frontline, finishing with a -.037 hitting percentage with 22 kills and 25 errors in 82 attack attempts. The Red Men finished with 16 team blocks and Lakeland did not post a hitting percentage above zero in any of the three sets.

The Muskies played from behind the entire second and third sets but had a chance to get off to a good start. Lakeland led much of the first set, going ahead by as many as three points and rallying to take a 19-17 lead late in the set after a pair of blocks by Tali Coleman (Fr.-Kapolei, Hawaii), with Desmond Williams (Fr.-Riverside, Calif.) also assisting on the second. Carthage scored the next five points, though, and closed the set out with a kill by Griffin Shields, one of his 16 in the match.

Dan Matijevic (Jr.-Palatine, Ill.) led Lakeland with six kills and Tim Robbins (Jr.-Wheaton, Ill.) added five kills.
Addison Mertler (Fr.-Boca Raton, Fla.) posted team highs with 19 assists and 10 digs, while Ryan Frankel (Fr.-Palatine, Ill.) also added seven digs off the bench. Williams and Coleman also had three blocks each.

Will Craft also added 12 kills for Carthage, which hit .219 for the match with 42 kills and 21 errors in 96 attack attempts. J.P. Tulacka had nine block assists and Shield added eight block assists.

The Muskies are now 0-5 all-time against the Red Men since moving to the varsity level in 2014. Carthage has not lost this year since a three-set loss to NCAA Division II member Lindenwood (Mo.) University on Jan. 16.

Lakeland is home again on Wednesday when it welcomes North Central (Ill.) College and Marian University for a triangular at the Woltzen Gym beginning at 4 p.m. North Central and Marian will square off in the first match at 4 p.m., with the Muskies then taking on North Central at 6 p.m. and Marian at 8 p.m.