PLYMOUTH, Wis. – The Lakeland University men's volleyball team fought back from a 2-0 deficit to get within a few points of victory before falling to Wittenberg (Ohio) University in five sets Saturday at the Muskies' home quadrangular at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Tigers held off the Muskies 25-15, 25-17, 19-25, 23-25, 16-14 in both teams' first match of the day. Lakeland then fell to 7th-ranked UC Santa Cruz 25-12, 25-14, 27-25 to finish 0-2 on the day.

The Muskies (5-9 overall) staged a spirited comeback against Wittenberg, which entered the day with an 8-3 record, fresh off an upset of defending national champions Southern Virginia University, and sitting just one spot outside the AVCA/NCAA Division III Top 20 Coaches Poll. Lakeland led most of the way in winning the third and fourth sets, and neared the doorstep of a victory by building three-point leads in the fifth set, first at 11-8 after a service ace by Roger Sauvage (Sr.-Seattle, Wash.) and again at 12-9 after a kill from Jakob Donohue (Sr.-Milwaukee, Wis.).

Wittenberg (9-4 overall) rallied to tie at 12-12, but another kill from Donohue put the Muskies just two points from victory. The Tigers would get to match point first, though, first at 14-13 and then again at 15-14. A block by Patterson Reed and Zach Newton wrapped it up for Wittenberg, the final of its 14 blocks in the match.

Lakeland hit just .049 in the match with 39 kills and 32 errors but stayed in with 12 blocks of its own. Chase Anderson (Sr.-Hartford, Wis.) and Griffin Lemberger (Fr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) both posted one solo block and four block assists each, including Lemberger after coming on in the third set. Donohue and Jordan Davis-Troller (Sr.-Cottage Grove, Wis.) both also added four block assist each, with Donohue, Colin Putchinski (Fr.-Waukesha, Wis.) and Eli Weinrich (Sr.-Mequon, Wis.) pacing the team with eight kills each.

The Muskies faced a tall task in their second match, taking on a UC Santa Cruz team that entered ranked seventh in the Division III coaches poll and just last night topped 3rd-ranked Carthage College in five sets on the road. The Banana Slugs (11-1 overall) dominated the first two sets, hitting .600 in the first set and .476 in the second set to cruise to a two-set lead.

Lakeland picked up its play in the third set, coming back from an early 9-6 deficit to build an 18-13 lead. Connor Lewis (So.-Oak Lawn, Ill.) delivered seven kills in the third set alone, and the Muskies reached a set point at 24-23 before UC Santa Cruz came back to score four of the final five points to close out the match.

Lewis finished with a career-high nine kills off the bench, Putchinski posted six kills and Donohue added five kills. Anderson totaled 19 assists and Luke Schultz (Fr.-Waukesha, Wis.) finished with five digs.

UC Santa Cruz also defeated the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 25-23, 25-21, 25-21 in its first match of the day and was the lone team to finish undefeated over its two matches. UW-Stevens Point came back to sweep Wittenberg 25-20, 25-17, 25-19 in the teams' second match.

The Muskies are home again Tuesday and return to Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play when they face Illinois Tech at 7 p.m. at the Woltzen Gym.