MILWAUKEE – Freshman
Ben Busalacchi (
Muskego, Wis.) set a Lakeland University men's volleyball varsity record for service aces in a match as part of a larger record performance by the Muskies in a three-set sweep of Wisconsin Lutheran College Thursday night.
The Muskies rolled in their first match against the first-year Warriors program, winning by scores of 25-14, 25-9, and 25-18. Lakeland won its second match in a row to improve to 2-1 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference and 2-2 overall, while WLC dropped its third straight to fall to 0-3 overall and in conference.
Lakeland was historically strong from the service line in the match, recording 23 aces to set a new NACC single-match record. The 23 aces were also the most in a NCAA Division III match this season.
Busalacchi led the charge, setting a new program record with seven aces. He broke the previous mark of six originally set by
Tyler Boyce against Juniata (Pa.) College Feb. 9, 2014 and tied by Dakota Hunter against Concordia University Wisconsin Feb. 10, 2018 and by
Cameron Ekum (
Sr.-Wales, Wis.) last season at North Park (Ill.) University Feb. 14, 2020.
After falling behind early in the first set, Lakeland used a 13-3 run to take a 20-9 lead and never looked back. The Muskies started the next set with three straight aces from Ekum and never trailed en route to a convincing 25-9 win. Lakeland also opened the third set with a 9-4 run and gradually pulled away late to complete the sweep.
The Muskies hit .267 as a team in the match with 23 kills and 11 errors in 45 attacks. Busalacchi led all players with seven kills,
Matt Misheck (
Jr.-Oak Forest, Ill.) added six kills and four aces, and
Colin Kenney (
Fr.-Shorewood, Wis.) totaled four kills and five aces. Ekum recorded 19 assists and also tied the previous program single-match record with six aces.
Wisconsin Lutheran finished with 11 kills and 13 errors in 36 attacks (-.056 hitting percentage). Logan Ascher led the Warriors with three kills and three service aces.
Lakeland's next match comes next Tuesday when the Muskies host Concordia Wisconsin at 7 p.m.
