Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Lakeland University began its men's volleyball season with a pair of wins Friday night, part of a 2-1 record it posted in opening its season this weekend at the Jim Coleman Memorial Invitational hosted by Wittenberg (Ohio) University.

The Muskies got off to a great start with two wins on Friday, first defeating Mount St. Joseph (Ohio) University in four sets and then sweeping Lancaster Bible (Pa.) College in three sets. Lakeland concluded the tourney early Saturday morning with a very close three set loss to host Wittenberg.

The Muskies' 25-17, 25-21, 22-25, 25-23 win over Mount St. Joseph was led by Matt Misheck (So.-Oak Forest, Ill.), who finished with a career-high 18 kills and also added 10 digs. Seniors Dakota Hunter (Waukesha, Wis.) and Desmond Williams (Riverside, Calif.) also added 13 and 12 kills, respectively, and Lakeland snapped a five-match losing streak to the Lions with its first win against MSJ since 2014.

The Muskies added a second impressive performance on Friday with a 26-24, 25-17, 25-22 sweep of a Lancaster Bible team that entered the season just outside the AVCA/NCAA Division III Top 15 Coaches Poll. Misheck led the team again with 11 kills and Williams added five blocks (two solo, three assisted) in the win.

Lakeland closed the tourney with a tough 26-24, 25-23, 26-24 loss to host Wittenberg. Williams set a new Muskies varsity single-match record for hitting percentage, with 14 kills and just one error in 17 swings for a .765 attack rate, topping the former mark of .690 set by Matt Stolz in 2016 also against Wittenberg. Hunter also added 13 kills, but the Tigers stunned Lakeland with rallies late in all three sets, including a 6-0 run in the first set after the Muskies had set point at 24-20, plus a comeback from down 20-17 in the third.

Misheck finished with 33 kills over three matches, while Hunter also posted 32 kills and Williams added 31 kills.

Addison Mertler (Sr.-Boca Raton, Fla.) posted 78 assists and Cameron Ekum (So.-Mukwonago, Wis.) also added 31 assists. J.T. Levitt (Sr.-Schaumburg, Ill.) paced the team with 38 digs and Williams posted 13 blocks (five solo, eight assists). For his performance, Williams was named to the eight-player all-tournament team.

Lakeland now gets ready for its home opener on Wednesday when it welcomes Cardinal Stritch University for a 7 p.m. first serve at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.