ROCKFORD, Ill. – The Lakeland University men's volleyball team sprinted out to a big lead in the deciding set and went on to defeat Rockford University in five sets Saturday afternoon in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match.
The Muskies bounced back from dropping the first set to eventually pull out an 18-25, 25-19, 25-23, 21-25, 15-5 victory. Lakeland improved to 6-12 overall this season and 3-5 in the NACC with its fourth five-set win this season.
The Regents (1-17 overall, 1-8 NACC) rebounded from an early 8-4 deficit in the fourth set to pull away and send the match to a final set, but the Muskies darted out to a 6-0 lead in the fifth.
Eli Weinrich (
So.-Mequon, Wis.) and
Levi Everts (
Jr.-Hartford, Wis.) both posted kills and Rockford contributed with four attack errors as Lakeland quickly built a comfortable margin.
The Muskies would never lead by less than five points the rest of the way, and would just about put it away with three straight points including two consecutive aces by Everts, the second pushing the lead to 12-3. Lakeland would finish it out with the final three points, with
Ben Busalacchi (
Sr.-Muskego, Wis.) posting two kills and Weinrich closing it out with an ace on match point.
Busalacchi finished with 15 kills and Weinrich added 12 kills as the Muskies hit .215 as a team with 48 kills and 22 errors. Everts and
Jakob Donohue (
So.-Milwaukee, Wis.) also added seven kills each.
Everts also added three service aces as Lakeland finished with 10 aces and Busalacchi and Donohue both posted three blocks each. Weinrich also finished with 10 digs and
Chase Anderson (
So.-Hartford, Wis.) finished with 31 assists from the setter position.
Isaiah Dixon led Rockford with 13 kills and Nathan Vana added 11 kills. The Regents hit .138 with 44 kills and 27 errors but went without a kill with four errors in the final set.
Lakeland is back home Tuesday night when it hosts Edgewood College at 7 p.m. at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
