Broadcast Information: Live video and statistics for all Lakeland men's volleyball home matches are available at http://www.lakelandmuskies.com/muskieslive. 

Series history: 13th meeting, Dominican leads 8-4

The Muskies and Stars meet for the 13th time today, with Dominican holding a 8-4 lead in the still-young series that dates back to 2014, the first year for both schools fielding varsity programs. Lakeland won the first three meetings but the Stars have won eight of the last nine, including most recently a four-set win here at Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium March 16, 2019. Dominican won 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 25-14 in a competitive match where the Stars hit .292 to the Muskies' .172. The Muskies' last win over Dominican was a 25-11, 26-24, 25-21 sweep over a 14th-ranked Stars team here at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium on April 1, 2016.

Lakeland last time out: Defeated Wittenberg 3-0 and Marian 3-0 last Saturday

The Muskies participated in a triangular hosted by Marian last Saturday and earned their first two wins of the season. Lakeland rolled to a sweep of Wittenberg 25-14, 25-23, 25-19, hitting a blistering .354. Nate Vanderwaal and Matt Misheck finished with double-digit kills with 18 and 17 kills, respectively. Cameron Ekum assisted on 34 Muskie points and also served four aces in the win. The Muskies kept it going later in the day, sweeping Marian 25-17, 25-21, 25-23. Isaiah Vance had a match-high five blocks and Nate Vanderwaal led all players with a career-high 22 kills. Ben Miller also added four service aces and Cameron Ekum tallied 30 assists plus three service aces.

About the Muskies: Lakeland has been one of the busiest teams in NCAA Division III early in the season, playing nine matches already, including three against nationally ranked teams. The Muskies are off to a 2-7 start under first-year coach Brian Rushmer, who came to Lakeland after spending four years as an assistant at Marian. The Muskies also are playing their Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opener tonight, and they were picked to finish fifth in the conference's preseason poll of league coaches and sports information directors after finishing 14-13 overall and 7-9 in conference last year. Lakeland also has picked up an early-season honor as Vanderwaal was named the NACC Player of the Week on Tuesday after two huge matches last weekend at Marian.

Dominican last time out: Won at Marian 3-0 last Thursday

The Stars have been idle over a week since their season opener, when they picked up their first first win of the season over Marian 25-11, 25-18, 25-14 last Thursday in Fond du Lac. The Stars opened their season with a NACC match and had their way on offense as they hit .442 on the match while also holding Marian to a .051 hitting percentage. George Kougan led the Stars with 11 kills and three blocks, while Jack McGuire tacked on 36 assists, 10 digs and two service aces, all team highs.

About the Stars: Dominican is coming off a successful season in which they were NACC co-champions in the regular season before falling to fellow co-champion MSOE in the NACC Tournament championship match. The Stars were also nationally ranked throughout the majority of the season last year and enter Friday's match ranked 14th in the country. Dominican was picked second in the NACC preseason poll after finishing 19-11 overall and 13-3 in conference a year ago. This is also Cameron Andrew's first season at the helm of the men's program after guiding Dominican's women's volleyball team to a 20-10 finish in 2018.