PLYMOUTH, Wis. – The first-ever battle for the Highway 57 Cup went to Concordia University Wisconsin in convincing fashion, as the Falcons defeated the Lakeland University men's volleyball team in three sets Wednesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

Concordia posted a season-best hitting performance in rolling to a 25-20, 25-12, 25-14 victory in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match. The Falcons claimed the new trophy for the game between the two rivals and evened the all-time series between the schools at 4-4.

Concordia (12-8 overall, 6-2 NACC) hit a season-high .415 for the match with 41 kills and just seven errors in 82 attack attempts. The Falcons started red hot with a .484 mark in the first set with 18 kills and three errors, and never really cooled off, still hitting .364 in the final set.

The Muskies (6-15 overall, 1-8 NACC) started well, scoring the first four points of the match including a kill by Ben Busalacchi (Jr.-Muskego, Wis.) and an ace from Hunter Henson (Fr.-Menomonee Falls, Wis.), but CUW evened the score quickly at 6-6 before the opening set settled down into a good battle. The teams were tied on eight occasions, the last time at 14-14, but the Falcons went on a 7-2 run there to take control and win the opener.

Concordia never trailed in the second set, and leading by a point at 8-7 would pull away with a big 15-3 run. Lakeland would have a brief moment of sun in the third set, scoring four straight points to take a 5-4 lead after an ace by Chase Anderson (Fr.-Hartford, Wis.) and a kill by Henson. The Falcons would respond with a 7-1 stretch including back-to-back service aces off the tape by Spencer Herman, and CUW would pull away soon after.

Busalacchi totaled eight kills and added three block assists to lead Lakeland, which hit. 014 with 17 kills and 16 errors. Henson also finished with five kills, Anderson totaled 14 assists and seven digs and Drew Green (Sr.-Brooklyn Park, Minn.) also added seven digs.

Ben Kayser finished with a match-high 14 kills for Concordia. Lucas Beres also added eight kills plus six blocks (one solo, five assisted) and Tate Miller added seven kills and four block assists.

The Muskies are on the road Saturday to face Aurora University at 5 p.m. in Aurora, Ill., in a match rescheduled to that day after being postponed March 10th.