Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Box Score

Mar. 4, 2016 – With its offense struggling to gain any momentum all night, the North Central College men's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision at the hands of Lakeland College on Friday in a Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) matchup inside Gregory Arena.
 
The opening set began on a promising note for North Central (2-12, 1-5 MCVL), jumping out to a 10-5 lead early to force a Lakeland timeout.  The Cardinals held onto the lead a majority of the set, but the Muskies (12-5, 5-1 MCVL) slowly chipped away at the lead to even the score 20-20.
 
After a North Central timeout, a pair of kills from the Dan Matijevic gave Lakeland a 22-20 advantage and forced yet another Cardinal timeout.  Lakeland capped off its 6-1 run the following point to take a 23-20 lead and would close out the set two points later.
 
The second set was one to forget for North Central, as a 16-3 Lakeland run midway through the set gave the Muskies a commanding 23-11 lead.  North Central finished with a -.071 attack percentage in the set, eventually falling 25-15.
 
The turning point in set number three came with the score tied 16-16, as Lakeland fired off three-straight points to force a Cardinal timeout.  North Central never recovered after that, as the Muskies went on to win the set 25-20.
 
Jacob Zemba was the lone Cardinals to finish in double-digit kills, tallying a match-high 13, while finishing with seven digs.  Raymond Kraus led the team with 26 assists and three total blocks, while Ben Cartwright added a team-high 10 digs.
 
Matt Stolz led the Lakeland attack with 12 kills, while Addison Mertler handed out 26 assists.  Defensively, Tim Robbins led the way with four total blocks, while Kyle Krogstad led the team with eight digs.
 
North Central returns to the court tomorrow in the midst of a six-match home streak, hosting the NCC Triangular beginning at 2 p.m. against Marian University, before taking on non-conference opponent Cardinal Stritch University at 6 p.m.  The link to live in-game statistics is available HERE.