PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Reserve Ana Jones set career highs with 14 kills and four service aces for Illinois Institute of Technology, which handed the Lakeland University women's volleyball team a four-set loss Saturday afternoon at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies fell to the Scarlet Hawks 22-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-23, coming out on the wrong end of a close match in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play for the first time this season. Lakeland dropped to 6-15 overall and is now 4-2 in the NACC as it nears the mid-point of the league schedule.

The Muskies played at home for just the fourth time this season, and struggled to find a rhythm in the noon start. Though able to overcome a slow start to take the first set, Lakeland trailed much of the second and third sets, and also let multiple leads slip away in the fourth and final set.

The Muskies hit just .134 with 43 kills and 24 errors, while Illinois Tech (10-10 overall, 2-4 NACC) attacked at a .202 rate with 55 kills and 22 errors. That included hitting .282 in the third set and .270 in the fourth, with a combined 29 kills and just eight errors in the last two sets.

Jones sparked the Scarlet Hawks off the bench, coming on at the end of the first set. She finished with 14 kills and just two errors in 30 attacks, well surpassing her previous career high of 10 kills, and also added four aces plus 11 digs.

Lakeland fell behind 7-1 to open the match but rebounded quickly and led 22-16 late in the set. The set win would not com easily, though, as Illinois Tech scored six straight to tie at 22-22 before a service error put the Muskies back in front. The hosts would hold on, though, as Ryan Figi (So.-Hartland, Wis.) served a pair of aces to close out the set.

Lakeland would trail most of the next two sets, in both cases hanging around but coming up a point or two shy of putting real pressure on the Scarlet Hawks late. The fourth set was the closest with 11 ties and four lead changes, but also represented a missed opportunity.

The Muskies led 9-4 early with Susana Stevens (Sr.-Las Cruces, N.M.) heating up with six kills in that run. Tech scored the next four points, though, and a back and forth was on, with IIT eventually going ahead 16-14 before Lakeland went on an 7-2 run for a 21-18 lead. The Scarlet Hawks would tie it back up at 21-21, though, and after four straight service errors the set was still tied at 23-23. Karla Trautmann Mendez then came up with a kill to get Illinois Tech to match point, and a Muskies attack error closed it out.

Stevens finished with 16 kills and Rylee Esquibel (Fr.-Devine, Texas) and Isabella Westerholm (Sr.-Prior Lake, Minn.) added eight kills each. Figi finished with a match-high 20 digs plus three service aces and Esquibel added 13 digs. Briuna Harper (Sr.-Waxahachie, Texas) also posted five blocks (one solo, four assisted).

Lakeland is back on the road Thursday when it travels to take on Marian University at 7 p.m. in Fond du Lac.