Dakota Hunter (Sr.-Waukesha, Wis.) tied his career high with 19 kills and the Lakeland University men's volleyball team rode a fast start and a big rally late to a four-set victory over Marian University Wednesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies avenged one of their earlier Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference losses this season with a spirited 25-23, 25-12, 21-25, 26-24 win. Lakeland defeated its rivals from down the road for the first time since their first match of the 2018 season and closed in on a conference tournament berth, improving to 11-12 overall and 5-9 in the NACC.

The Muskies jumped on the Sabres in the first two sets, hitting .308 in the first and a robust .667 in the second, making it look easy. Hunter piled up 14 kills in the first two sets alone and Lakeland led for all but a few points early in both sets.

Marian (10-12 overall, 8-6 NACC) picked up its energy and charged back to win the third set, taking advantage of nine Lakeland service errors in the set. Marian also led much of the fourth set and held a 21-16 lead late, seemingly well on its way to sending the match to a fifth set.

A kill from Tali Coleman (Sr.-Kapolei, Hawaii) got the Muskies a side out, though, and began a big rally. Cameron Ekum (So.-Mukwonago, Wis.) served Lakeland back to even, with strong serves first ending in two Hunter kills and then an ace tying the set at 21-21. Marian came back to get a set point at 24-23, but Nathan Vanderwaal (Jr.-Rockford, Ill.) followed with a pair of kills, and the match when a Sabres attack went wide, ending the match in 1 hour, 46 minutes.

Lakeland finished hitting .239 for the match with 59 kills and 25 errors. Hunter tied his career high for kills set last year against Hope International (Calif.) on March 12, 2018. Vanderwaal also added 16 kills and Matt Misheck (So.-Oak Forest, Ill.) finished with 11 kills. Ekum set his career high with 46 assists and also added eight digs and two aces.

J.T. Levitt (Sr.-Schaumburg, Ill.) finished with a season-high 18 digs to lead the defense. Coleman led the defense at the net with five block assists, as Lakeland finished with nine total blocks. The Muskies avenged a four-set loss at Marian Feb. 20 and improved to 5-2 all-time against the Sabres.

Jon Smallpage totaled 13 kills for Marian, which hit .033 with 30 kills and 26 errors. Liam Skinner finished with eight blocks (one solo, seven assisted) as the Sabres finished with 12 total blocks.

The Muskies are next on the road Saturday when they travel to face Concordia University Wisconsin at 1 p.m. in Mequon.