THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Lakeland University men's volleyball team opened its spring break trip with yet another drama-packed match in a season full of them so far, falling in five sets against the University of California Merced in its opening match of the Cal-Lu-Fornia Classic hosted by Cal Lutheran University on Friday.

The Muskies were ever-so-close but the Bobcats finally pulled out a 26-28, 25-14, 25-13, 19-25, 15-13 win in the late afternoon. Lakeland then came back and was defeated 25-23, 25-13, 25-22 by host Cal Lutheran in its second match of the day.

The match against UC Merced was the Muskies' sixth this season to go five sets and 11th in 20 matches to go at least four sets. Lakeland (7-13 overall) dropped to 1-5 in five-setters, but not without giving the Bobcats a big push.

The Muskies fought off two set points in the first set to stay alive and then won it after a kill and a block by California native Desmond Williams (Jr.-Riverside, Calif.), who had a pair of big matches in the return to his home state. Lakeland then bounced back after decisive losses in the second and third sets to win the fourth, and then held its own in a hard-hitting fifth set with in which both teams hit better than .400 and combined for just four hitting errors.

Neither team led by more than two points in the final set, which was tied on seven occasions. With the score tied 10-10 though, UC Merced (8-11 overall) got a pair of kills and the advantage was just enough to hold up as the Bobcats at 14-13 finished the match with a kill by Joseph Webb.

Lakeland had a tougher go in the second match against a good Cal Lutheran (12-4 overall) team that hit .370 as a team on its home court. Patrick Rowe and Andrew Reina combined for 26 kills with just four errors for the Kingsmen, who also added seven blocks.

Playing 90 minutes west of his hometown, Williams finished with 25 kills and a .467 attack percentage over the two matches. He posted 14 kills and hit .393 against UC Merced, and then followed up with 11 kills and just one error in 17 attacks for a .588 hitting percentage against Cal Lutheran.

Cameron Ekum (Fr.-Wales, Wis.) also added eight kills plus 22 assists against UC Merced and Matt Misheck (Fr.-Oak Forest, Ill.) added seven kills. Dakota Hunter (Jr.-Waukesha, Wis.) also heated up in the second match with nine kills.

Addison Mertler (Jr.-Boca Raton, Fla.) added 41 assists over the two matches, and J.T. Levitt (Jr.-Schaumburg, Ill.) added 22 digs, including 13 in the opener.

The Muskies continue their spring break trip with two more matches on Saturday, opening with Medaille (N.Y.) College at 1 p.m. Central time, 11 a.m. in the Pacific Time Zone. Lakeland then faces seventh-ranked UC Santa Cruz at 4 p.m. Central time.