Mount St. Joseph (Ohio) University asserted itself midway through all three sets and the Lakeland University men's volleyball team was defeated 25-20, 25-21, 25-22 Saturday afternoon at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies were swept by one of the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League's top teams for the second straight day, unable to muster the firepower to overcome a talented opponent. Lakeland dropped to 11-10 overall this year and is now 8-7 in the MCVL.

The Muskies hit .133 as a team with 26 kills and 12 errors in 105 attack attempts. Matt Stolz (Sr.-Wauwatosa, Wis.) returned to the lineup and had 11 kills, but only Desmond Williams (So.-Riverside, Calif.) with six and Casey Bolda (Sr.-Honolulu, Hawaii) with five had more than two kills in the match.

Lakeland was competitive in all three sets, tied at 12-12 in the first and 9-9 in the second before Mount St. Joseph (17-6 overall, 11-5 MCVL) took control. The hosts still were within two points late in the second set before MSJ scored the final two points of the set

The Muskies also were tied at 10-10 in the third set before the Lions took a four-point lead at 19-15, but Lakeland came back with six of the next eight points to go ahead 21-20. Mount St. Joseph finished on a 5-1 run, though, including a block to close out the match.

J.T. Levitt (So.-Schaumburg, Ill.) led the back row defense with 12 digs while Williams had five blocks (one solo, four assisted). Addison Mertler (So.-Boca Raton, Fla.) led the setting with 12 assists and also added nine digs.

Darrell Swanson finished 12 kills and 16 digs to lead Mount St. Joseph in both categories. Alex Vohland also added 10 kills and 15 digs. The Lions hit .202 as a team with 48 kills and 23 errors.

Lakeland is back in action Friday, March 31 when it travels to face nationally ranked Dominican (Ill.) University at 7 p.m. in River Forest, Ill.