Ben Busalacchi (Muskego, Wis.) hammered home 21 kills and the Lakeland University men's volleyball team piled up its highest total for kills in nearly four years but fell to Concordia University Wisconsin in five sets Tuesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Falcons and Muskies alternated sets all night long but Concordia pulled out the 25-18, 17-25, 25-16, 29-31, 15-10 victory to defeat Lakeland in five for the second straight year. Both teams are now 2-3 overall on the season and 2-2 in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play.

A night of big and efficient hitting by both teams saw Lakeland finish with 61 kills, a season-high and the fifth-most in a match in the school's eight-year varsity history. It is the most by the Muskies since they posted 64 kills in a five-set win over Greenville (Ill.) March 16, 2017.

Busalacchi nearly equaled his season total for kills coming into the match. The Muskies' leader in the category with 26 coming into the night, he posted his 21 kills with nine errors in 43 attacks for a .279 hitting percentage.

Busalacchi was one of a number of Lakeland players to have big nights. Matt Misheck (Jr.-Oak Forest, Ill.) also finished with 14 kills, Colin Kenney (Fr.-Shorewood, Wis.) finished with a season-high 11 kills and Cameron Ekum (Sr.-Wales, Wis.) added nine kills with just one error in 17 swings (.471 attack percentage). Ekum nearly posted a triple-double on the night with 41 assists plus eight digs.

Lakeland hit .226 for the match with 61 kills and 30 errors in 137 attacks. The Muskies struggled in the final set, though, with seven kills but eight errors for a -.036 attack percentage, the team's only set below .190 for the night.

Lakeland appeared to be in a good position in the final set after scoring three straight points to take a 7-5 lead. CUW rebounded to score the next five points, though, all five courtesy of Lakeland attack errors. A kill from Kenney drew the Muskies back within 10-8, but the Falcons scored three more straight points and closed it out soon after.

Concordia finished with 41 kills-20 less than the Muskies-but hit .316 with just 11 errors in 95 attacks. Lakeland also committed 27 service errors, 17 more than the Falcons.

Spencer Herman nearly matched Busalacchi with 19 kills and just two errors in 35 attacks (.486 hitting perentage). He also added a match-high 13 digs plus two blocks.

Lakeland's aggressive serve resulted in 10 service aces, including three from Jesse Peters (So.-Lake Mary, Fla.). Kenney also added two aces as well as a team-high nine digs. Misheck also added eight digs and Maui Viola (Sr.-Gurnee, Ill.) finished with seven digs.

The Muskies next head back on the road Friday to take on Milwaukee School of Engineering at 7 p.m. in Milwaukee.