Men’s Volleyball hooks Lakeland in a five-set thriller

PLYMOUTH, Wis. – The CUW men's volleyball team came out on top in a thrilling five-set victory on Tuesday night at Lakeland. The Falcons were able to improve to 2-3 on the year and 2-2 in the NACC with a 25-18, 17-25, 25-16, 29-31, 15-10 victory over the Muskies.

"This was a really great team win," said head coach Curtis Madson. "I am very pleased with how our defense stepped up tonight. Our back row came up with digs when we needed them and we forced Lakeland into hitting those errors, while our block was not getting the numbers we typically get. I think that if people within the NACC didn't know who Spencer Herman was before tonight, they know who he is now. He had another amazing night with the double-double performance. We had a lot of great performances tonight, including Alex who hit 714 tonight with five kills. I am pleased with how we played tonight and we will now focus on the next match."

In the first set, CUW took an early lead and never looked back. Senior Zach Smith (Massillon, Ohio) landed a service ace to highlight an early 3-0 run in the set. The Falcons pushed the lead up to 19-11 with a kill from freshman Alex Holland (Fond du Lac, Wis.). The Muskies took a bite out of the CUW lead with a 4-0 run, but the Falcons responded with kills from three different Falcons and took the set 25-18.

The two teams kept the second set close with neither team able to blossom a substantial lead early. Lakeland used a 3-0 run at 14-12 to push the lead to 17-12. The Falcons cut the deficit to 16-20, but the Muskies responded with a 5-1 run to claim the set.

The Falcons wasted no time responding in the third set, the serve of sophomore Andy Ellingham (Burlington, Wis.) gave the Muskies issues and helped propel CUW to a 5-0 lead in the set. CUW was able to push the lead up to 17-10. After the Muskies cut the CUW lead to, 18-14, the Falcons flexed their muscles with a 4-0 run behind the serve of senior Mathew Korman (Roscoe, Ill.) to push the lead up to 22-14 and take the set, 25-16. The Falcons hit a blistering .588 in the third set.

The fourth set was tight from start to finish on Tuesday night. The Muskies had their first set point at 24-22, but the Falcons tied the set at 24 with a kill from senior Jeremy Theis (Port Washington, Wis.). The two teams fought off a combined seven set points before Lakeland was able to take the set at 31-29.

The Falcons saw themselves facing a 5-7 deficit to the fifth set. The Falcons were able to retake the lead behind the serve of junior Cody Sciabica (Henderson, Nev.) with five-straight points. The Falcons never looked back from there and clinched the match with a 15-10 victory in the fifth set.

Freshman Spencer Herman (Appleton, Wis.) led the flock with 19 kills and 13 digs while hitting .486 on the night.

Matthew Korman had 31 assists in the victory.

The Falcons had a hitting percentage of .316 on the evening, the second-highest mark of the season.

The Blue and White look to keep the ball rolling on Friday night when they travel to Edgewood.