Aurora University Spartans (8-4 overall, 3-1 NACC)
at Lakeland University Muskies (3-5 overall, 0-3 NACC)
Friday, March 4, 2022 7 p.m.
Woltzen Gymnasium
Lakeland/Aurora Match Notes PDF
The Lakeland University men's volleyball team plays two Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference matches at home in less than 24 hours beginning with Aurora University visiting at 7 p.m. Friday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
Broadcast Information:
Live video and statistics for all Lakeland men's volleyball home matches are available at
http://www.lakelandmuskies.com/muskieslive.
Series history: 7th meeting, Aurora leads 6-0
The series between Lakeland and Aurora is a fairly young one with the Spartans playing their first season in 2018, but it has proven a difficult one from its start for the Muskies. Aurora won the first two meetings in 2018 both in five sets, and the Spartans have won four more since then, including a 25-22, 25-21, 25-20 sweep last year on March 23, 2021 in Illinois. Lakeland hasn't hosted Aurora since a four-set loss at the Woltzen Gymnasium Feb. 8, 2019. The teams first met Feb. 17, 2018 at Lakeland, with Aurora pulling out a 21-25, 25-23, 24-26, 27-25, 15-12 win.
Lakeland last time out: Lost to MSOE 3-0 last Saturday
The Muskies last played six days ago, falling to the Raiders 26-24, 25-21, 25-21 in an NACC match. Lakeland played well, finishing with 10 service aces and a 6-1 advantage in blocks and also hitting a respectable .192, but MSOE hit a sparkling .372 with 40 kills and 11 errors in 78 attacks. The match included 23 ties and 11 lead changes and the Muskies had a 22-21 lead late in the first set and trailed just 20-19 late in the third.
Matt Misheck finished with nine kills,
Cameron Ekum totaled six kills and 18 assists and
Drew Green added 11 digs.
Colin Kenney and
Tim Matijevic also added four block assists each and
Ben Busalacchi contributed five kills and a team-best three service aces.
Aurora last time out: Won at Concordia Wisconsin 3-0 last night
The Spartans picked up an impressive win on the road in conference play Thursday night, topping the Falcons 25-20, 31-29, 28-26 in three hotly contested sets. The teams combined for 22 ties and 10 lead changes and were close almost all night, especially in the second and third sets with both going well past 25 points. Aurora hit .346 for the match and was led by Thomas Kovanic with 18 kills and Lucas Meier adding 11 kills without an error. James Karwin added 37 assists and six blocks and John McCormack added six blocks as well.
About the Spartans: Aurora is 8-4 overall and 3-1 in NACC play, with its lone loss to Benedictine. The Spartans also have losses to defending NCAA Division III national champion Carthage, undefeated and 4th-ranked North Central (Ill.) and Judson (Ill.), a team just outside the NAIA top 15. Aurora finished 11-7 last season and 8-3 in the NACC to place fourth in the conference, and the Spartans have finished in the top four in the last two full seasons in the NACC (2019 and 2021).
Ace of Serves: In just eight matches and a total of 26 sets, Cam Ekum already has 24 service aces, a number that ties for the seventh-most in a season in Lakeland's nine-year varsity history. The record of 40 aces set by
Tyler Boyce in 2014 is certainly in play, and Ekum already holds the program record for career aces with 107. Ekum also leads the NACC this season with 0.92 aces per set, and entering tonight that number also ranks fifth nationally in Division III.
