PLYMOUTH, Wis. – The Lakeland University men's volleyball team continued to struggle early in its Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference schedule, falling to St. Norbert College in four sets on Ash Wednesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
The Muskies picked up their play after a sluggish start to win the third set but fell to the Green Knights 25-19, 25-10, 18-25, 25-21. Lakeland lost its fourth straight match, all in conference play, and is now 6-10 overall and 0-4 in the NACC.
St. Norbert (7-11 overall, 2-4 NACC) defeated the Muskies for the second time in six all-time meetings, playing from ahead much of the night. The Green Knights hit .267 as a team with 48 kills and 17 errors and also added an 8-5 advantage in blocks.
Lakeland played a strong third set, coming out with fire after an ugly second set that saw SNC blow out to leads of 12-3, 17-5 and 21-7. The Muskies hit .292 in the third with 11 kills and four errors, recorded four of their five blocks in the match and took control of the set with an early 7-1 run, but were unable to match that play the rest of the match.
Lakeland made a run late in the fourth set, coming back from four points down to tie the set at 18-18, but the Green Knights responded with four straight points. The Muskies would get no closer than three points again.
Sage Xiong (
Fr.-Erie, Colo.) led Lakeland's attack with 11 kills and
Jakob Donohue (
Jr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) added eight kills. Lakeland as a team hit .096 with 36 kills and 25 errors, including a mark of .061 or below in the first, second and fourth sets.
Ben Busalacchi (
Sr.-Muskego, Wis.) and
Eli Weinrich (
Jr.-Mequon, Wis.) both finished with eight digs and
Chase Anderson (
Jr.-Hartford, Wis.) totaled 29 assists.
Jordan Davis-Troller (
Jr.-Cottage Grove, Wis.) also finished with three block assists.
Bennett Kornaus led St. Norbert with 11 kills and 15 digs. Barry Applewhite and Kaden Kornaus both added 10 kills each.
Lakeland's conference schedule gets no easier Saturday as it hosts perennial NACC contender Benedictine University at 1 p.m. at the Woltzen Gym.
