PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Ben Busalacchi (Sr.-Muskego, Wis.) set another Lakeland University men's volleyball career record and the Muskies defeated Mount St. Joseph (Ohio) University in four sets Sunday afternoon in a non-conference match at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

Busalacchi set a new program record for service aces and the Muskies held off the Lions 25-20, 16-25, 25-18, 25-23. Lakeland defeated Mount St. Joseph for the first time since 2019 and improved to 5-6 overall this season as it continues through the non-conference portion of its schedule.

Busalacchi served a pair of aces, with his second one giving him 132 career aces. He broke the former program record of 131 aces set by Cameron Ekum from 2018-22, and Busalacchi now holds Lakeland varsity men's volleyball records for kills and aces, as well as ranking in the top 10 in program history in digs and blocks.

Busalacchi also finished with 11 kills and a team-high eight digs against the Lions (4-8 overall) and was part of a consistent effort that bested up-and-down Mount St. Joseph. The Muskies hit .200 for the match with 39 kills and 18 errors, and their attack percentage for all four sets ranged between .188 and .214.

Lakeland closed the match out winning a tight fourth set. The Muskies broke out to an early lead and were ahead 12-6 near the halfway point, but the Lions fought back to with 10 of the next 13 points to take a 16-15 lead.

Mount St. Joseph eventually inched out to a two-point lead at 19-17, but Lakeland turned it around with four straight points, including a kill by Busalacchi and then three consecutive MSJ attack errors. The teams were back tied again at 23-23, but Sage Xiong (Fr.-Erie, Colo.) put away a kill to set up match point and another Lions hitting error closed it out.

Lakeland trailed only briefly in the first set before scoring six straight points to take control of the set, though the Lions rallied with a nearly flawless second set. Mount St. Joseph hit .625 with 15 kills and no errors in 24 attacks, pulling away to even the match after two sets.

The Muskies regained their footing in the third set on the strength of a 7-1 run in the middle of the set that turned a 12-9 deficit into a 16-13 lead. Xiong delivered a pair of kills and a block and Busalacchi's record-breaking ace gave Lakeland a three-point lead, a spurt that would be followed up with another five-point run shortly after to go ahead 21-15 on the way to winning the set.

Xiong joined Busalacchi in finishing with 11 kills and Jordan Davis-Troller (Jr.-Cottage Grove, Wis.) added seven kills without an error in 14 attacks for a .500 hitting percentage. Chase Anderson (Jr.-Hartford, Wis.) totaled 34 assists and seven digs and Davis-Troller, Xiong and Jakob Donohue (Jr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) all added three blocks each (one solo, two assisted each) as Lakeland totaled nine blocks as a team.

Carson Reed led Mount St. Joseph with 16 kills and Ryan Bollhauer added 13 kills. The Lions finished with more kills than the Muskies with 45 kills but also had 26 hitting errors for a .164 hitting percentage.

Lakeland is home again Friday when it faces Westminster (Mo.) College at 7 p.m. The match is part of a doubleheader with Westminster also taking on St. Norbert College in a match before at 4:30 p.m.