BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Jakob Donohue (Jr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) pounded home 10 kills and the Lakeland University men's volleyball team won for the first time this season, defeating the University of Olivet (Mich.) in three sets Saturday afternoon.

The Muskies dominated the fist two sets and then fought off two set points in the third to close out a 25-14, 25-12, 26-24 win. The victory was part of a split of two matches on the day, as Lakeland later was defeated by Illinois Wesleyan University 25-15, 22-25, 25-19, 25-18 in its second and final match of a triangular hosted by IWU.

Donohue led the Muskies (1-2 overall) with 10 kills in just 13 attacks without an error for a .769 hitting percentage against Olivet. He paced an efficient attack in which Lakeland hit .371 with 32 kills and nine errors in 62 attacks.

The Muskies opened the match with a 6-0 run and never trailed in the first set, and then quickly took control in the second set too with a 15-3 run after the Comets led early. The third set was neck-and-neck throughout, with 17 ties and seven lead changes, and Olivet rallied from a 16-13 deficit to get to set point at 24-22. Lakeland closed with four straight points, though, including a combined block by Ben Busalacchi (Sr.-Muskego, Wis.) and Jordan Davis-Troller (Jr.-Cottage Grove, Wis.), a kill by setter Chase Anderson (Jr.-Hartford, Wis.) and then an Olivet ball handling error on match point.

Busalacchi finished with six kills and nine different players posted at least one kill. Anderson posted 24 assists, Levi Everts (Sr.-Hartford, Wis.) finished with 10 digs and Donohue added four blocks (one solo, three assisted). Eli Weinrich (Jr.-Mequon, Wis.) also added three service aces.

The Muskies had a tougher time in their second match against the host school, which took control in the first set with a big 14-1 run. Lakeland appeared set to go down two sets in the match when Illinois Wesleyan broke out to a 16-10 lead, but the Muskies came alive, first with five straight points including a pair of aces by Davis-Troller. Lakeland continued to battle and finally took its first lead of the set at 22-21 after a kill by Busalacchi, and Anderson and Davis-Troller teamed up on a block on set point to even the match.

The Muskies took an early 9-5 lead in the third set, but the Titans took over with a 16-6 run. Illinois Wesleyan added one more big run in the fourth set, with eight straight points turning an 8-7 lead into a 16-7 bulge leading to the eventual win.

Busalacchi warmed up for 18 kills against the Titans. Sage Xiong (Fr.-Erie, Colo.) paced the team with 10 digs and three service aces, Anderson posted 27 assists and Davis-Troller was part of three blocks.

Lakeland will make its home debut for the season when it hosts a home triangular this coming Friday. The Muskies will host Maranatha Baptist University at 3 p.m. and then take on Trine (Ind.) University at 7 p.m., with Maranatha Baptist and Trine also meeting at 5 p.m.