Coming up big at a critical time in its season, the Lakeland College men's volleyball team summoned up a top-notch performance to sweep nationally ranked Dominican (Ill.) University in three sets Friday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies were nearly flawless in a 25-11, 26-24, 25-21 win over the No. 14-ranked team in the latest AVCA/NCAA Division III Top 15 Coaches Poll. Lakeland picked up its second win in nine tries against ranked teams this year and avenged a three-set loss to the Stars just over a month ago.

More importantly, the Muskies moved ahead of Dominican in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League standings and into a three-way tie for third in the league. At 9-3 in MCVL play now, Lakeland can clinch a spot in the four-team league tournament with a win over Benedictine (Ill.) University Saturday.

The Muskies (16-8 overall) were superb on the attack, hitting .395 for the match with 41 kills and just seven errors in 86 attack attempts. Lakeland hit nearly .500 over the first two sets with just three errors, and also finished the match with a sideout percentage of 75%.

Lakeland jumped on Dominican (16-8 overall, 8-4 MCVL) from the start and then had an answer every time the guests tried to make a run. It started in the first set, when the Muskies scored the first five points of the match and then ran away running away with the set by scoring 16 of the final 22 points.

The Muskies then emerged from a tight second set that included ebbs and flows as well as 15 ties. Lakeland led by three points early, fell behind by two points midway through the set, but then scored the final two points with a kill by Casey Bolda (Jr.-Honolulu, Hawaii) and an attack error by the Stars to close it out. The Muskies then again got the jump in the third set with an early three-point lead and answered every time Dominican made a run to close the match out in three sets.

Dan Matijevic (Jr.-Palatine, Ill.) was one of many who were efficient on the attack, finishing with 14 kills and just three errors in 24 attempts for a .458 hitting percentage. Matt Stolz (Jr.-Wauwatosa, Wis.) also racked up 11 kills with three errors in 24 attempts (.333) and Casey Bolda (Jr.-Honolulu, Hawaii) added nine kills and just one errors in 18 attempts (.444). Tim Robbins (Jr.-Wheaton, Ill.) also recorded six kills in 13 attacks (.462) and added five blocks (one solo, four assisted), part of the team's 9.5 blocks for the match.

Addison Mertler (Fr.-Boca Raton, Fla.) recorded 37 assists on the Muskies' 41 kills. Kyle Krogstad (Sr.-Chicago, Ill.) led the team with 11 digs.

Jeremy Royko posted 14 kills for the Stars, who hit .118 for the match with 35 kills and 24 errors in 93 attempts.

The Muskies can clinch a spot in the MCVL Tournament with a win over Benedictine in their regular season finale on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Woltzen Gym. The match also is the final home match for Krogstad, the team's lone senior.