The Lakeland University men's volleyball team is still searching for the formula to defeat Carthage College after the Muskies dropped a hard-fought five-set match to the Red Men in an important Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League match Saturday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

Carthage fought off two match points and exhausted two of its own before finally prevailing 25-23, 23-25, 25-16, 20-25, 19-17, remaining perfect all-time against the Muskies. The Red Men-ranked eighth in the latest AVCA/NCAA Division III Top 15 poll-defeated Lakeland in five sets for the third time in six meetings but improved to 6-0 all-time in the series.

With the win, Carthage strengthened its position in the MCVL Western Division, improving to 7-0 in league (8-1 overall). The Muskies, meanwhile, dropped to 7-6 overall and are now 4-3 in the league, where they'll need help the rest of the way if they're to qualify for the four-team conference tournament in April.

Lakeland played a terrific match much of the way, outhitting and outblocking the guests a taller Carthage team for large stretches. The Muskies finished with 12 team blocks and led late in two of the three sets it lost, keeping the heat on the Red Men.

Lakeland lost the first and third sets but put itself in position to win the match in the fifth set. The Muskies had a four-point deficit early but rallied back and took the lead at 11-9, setting the stage for an outstanding finish.

Carthage took the lead back at 12-11 before Lakeland scored two straight to retake a one-point lead. The Muskies then had a match point at 14-13 and another at 16-15, but a blocking error and a service error put the Red Men back up front. Carthage also spoiled two match points, but finally converted the final one when an attack error ended the match and a last set that included nine ties and seven lead changes.

Matt Stolz (Sr.-Wauwatosa, Wis.) led the attack with 14 kills and also added 13 digs, while Casey Bolda (Sr.-Honolulu, Hawaii) added 13 kills and 16 digs. Addison Mertler (So.-Boca Raton, Fla.) notched 39 assists, J.T. Levitt (So.-Schaumburg, Ill.) totaled 15 digs, and Desmond Williams (So.-Riverside, Calif.) recorded eight block assists.

Lakeland hit .110 for the match but also limited Carthage to .148 hitting. Marc Hansen had 12 kills and Max Bongratz and Zach Lillig both added 11 kills each, Matt Reinsel had 51 assists and Cody Bolan was superb on defense with 34 digs.