NAPERVILLE, Ill. – North Central (Ill.) College pulled away late in a pivotal third set and went on to defeat Lakeland University in four sets Tuesday night in a non-conference men's volleyball match.

The Muskies won the second set but no more and were defeated 25-22, 23-25, 25-18, 25-15. Lakeland dropped to 3-10 on the season, while the Cardinals improved to 4-3.

Lakeland and North Central kept each other in sight for most of the first three sets, with the teams trading the first two sets. The teams were tied at 20-20 in the first set before the Cardinals scored four straight points late to pull ahead and eventually prevail. The Muskies countered by taking an early six-point lead in the second set and never trailed, but North Central came back to tie three times late, the final time at 23-23 before Lakeland closed it out with a kill by Ben Miller (Jr.-Middleton, Wis.).

The teams were tied again as late as 16-16 in the third set before North Central scored five straight points The Cardinals closed out the third set and then scored the first five points of the fourth set, never trailing again.

Nate Vanderwaal (Sr.-Rockford, Ill.) led the Muskies with 17 kills and four blocks (one solo, three assisted). Matt Misheck (Jr.-Oak Forest, Ill.) added eight kills plus a team-high nine digs. Cameron Ekum (Jr.-Wales, Wis.) also totaled 33 assists and two service aces and Maui Viola (Jr.-Gurnee, Ill.) also added eight digs.

Lakeland hit .127 as a team with 41 kills and 26 errors. North Central hit .248 as a team with 47 kills and 19 errors, and the Cardinals also added 13 blocks. Jason Eslinger led the hosts with 16 kills and also added 17 digs plus six blocks (one solo, five assisted).

The Muskies are back on the road in Illinois Friday when they travel to face North Park (Ill.) University at 4 p.m. The match was originally scheduled to be played at Lakeland but was moved to North Park's campus.