MILWAUKEE – The first season of Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference men's volleyball continued to be an ultra-competitive but also frustrating one for Lakeland University as it lost to Milwaukee School of Engineering in another five-set match Wednesday night.
The Muskies pushed the match to the limit before the Raiders pulled out a 25-27, 25-18, 25-23, 22-25, 15-7 victory. Lakeland lost its fifth straight match, including fourth consecutive in the NACC, but three of those four conference losses have come in five sets.
The Muskies (4-10 overall, 2-4 NACC) scrapped to stay alive against an MSOE team that received votes in this week's AVCA/NCAA Division III Top 15 Coaches Poll. Lakeland hit just .108 for the match with 48 kills and 30 errors and had just two service aces and four team blocks, but the Muskies received big contributions from freshmen to stay alive.
First-year players
Matt Misheck (
Oak Forest, Ill.) and
Cameron Ekum (
Wales, Wis.) both had nine kills, and Misheck added a season-best 10 digs. Ekum posted a career-best in kills and also added 11 assists plus nine digs
Lakeland rebounded from a 2-1 deficit in the match to win the fourth set, taking an early lead with the help of three kills from
Desmond Williams (
Jr.-Riverside, Calif.) and leading the rest of the way. The Raiders (6-3 overall, 5-1 NACC) got within one point at 23-22, but Ekum and then
Jarrod Verhamme (
Fr.-Long Beach, Calif.) finished the back-to-back kills to extend the match.
The Muskies couldn't make it pay off in the fifth set, though. With the set tied 3-3, MSOE scored 10 of the next 12 points, getting five kills, two service aces and two blocks in going ahead 13-5, and Lakeland could only get as close as six points after.
Dakota Hunter (
Jr.-Waukesha, Wis.) finished with 12 kills and also added a match-high 18 digs while
Addison Mertler (
Jr.-Boca Raton, Fla.) also finished with 32 assists plus 16 digs.
J.T. Levitt (
Jr.-Schaumburg, Ill.) also posted 14 digs.
Bryant Holland led MSOE with 13 kills and 16 digs. The Raiders hit .202 for the match with 55 kills and 20 errors but also had 22 service errors.
The Muskies are back home Friday night when they welcome Marian University for a match at 7 p.m. at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium. The Sabres are another team that Lakeland has played five sets against this season, defeating Marian in five just three weeks earlier.
