PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Chase Anderson (Sr.-Hartford, Wis.) set a new Lakeland University men's volleyball varsity record for career assists and the Muskies started fast before falling to Aurora University in four sets Saturday afternoon at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium..

The Spartans won the final three sets to prevail 22-25, 25-15, 25-18, 25-21 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match. Aurora, ranked No. 11 in the AVCA/NCAA Division III Top 20 Coaches Poll, won its 10th straight match and improved to 16-3 overall (7-0 NACC), while Lakeland fell to 8-12 overall and 3-4 in conference.

Anderson broke the record of 2,554 assists set by Addison Mertler from 2016-19, with an assist early in the third set. He entered the day with 2,530 assists and his first assist of the third set broke the record, his 25th of 37 assists in the match to finish the day with 2,567 assists.

The Muskies came out on fire in the first set, hitting .441 with 18 kills and just three errors in a strong start. Lakeland took the lead for good at 14-13 and never trailed again in the set, Sage Xiong (So.-Erie, Colo.) hammered seven kills in nine attacks and a kill from Eli Weinrich (Sr.-Mequon, Wis.) on the second set point gave Lakeland the early advantage in the match.

The Muskies never would be able to duplicate that hitting, though, posting a negative mark in the second set and hitting percentages of .094 in the third set and .093 in the fourth. Aurora never trailed in the second and fourth sets and only trailed briefly early in the third set.

Lakeland still had a shot in the fourth set to push the match to a deciding fifth set, cutting a five-point deficit down to two in the latter stages. The Muskies drew within two at 20-18 and still were within 23-21 after a kill by Anderson, but an attack wide was followed by a Spartans block on match point to close it out.

Colin Putchinski (Fr.-Waukesha, Wis.) led Lakeland with 11 kills and Jordan Davis-Troller (Sr.-Cottage Grove, Wis.) and Jakob Donohue (Sr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) added 10 kills each. Davis-Troller also added four blocks (one solo, three assisted) and Luke Schultz (Fr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) also added a career-high 16 digs.

The Muskies finished hitting .151 with 46 kills and 25 errors. Aurora attacked at a .285 rate with 51 kills and 16 errors led by Josh McLellan with 14 kills.

Lakeland goes on the road for its next match on Tuesday at Wisconsin Lutheran College at 7 p.m. in Milwaukee.