Lakers Nipped At Clarke Tri Match

DUBUQUE, Iowa – Roosevelt battled to the bitter end in losing both matches in a tri-match hosted by Clarke on Saturday in Dubuque, Iowa.

In the first match of the day, the Lakers (1-3) faced conference foe Viterbo in a match that didn't count for the league standings. After splitting the first two sets, Roosevelt came out on the wrong end of a 27-25, 20-25, 25-19, 25-19 decision against the V-Hawks. Andrea DiPaola led the way on offense for the Lakers with 18 kills while Diego Esquival added 12 kills.

DiPaola slammed home a kill to fend off the first set point of the match against Viterbo and Esquival matched with a kill of his own to stave off the second attempt at set point. In the second set, Lachlan Diamond made his presence known with a kill and two blocks during an 8-1 run that broke the set open in the Lakers' favor. Diamond finished the match with four kills and 10 blocks, including the only two solo blocks on the day for the Lakers.

There wasn't much separating Roosevelt and the hosts, Clarke, in the Lakers' second match of the day as four of the five sets required overtime. In the end, the Pride outlasted Roosevelt, 27-25, 25-15, 25-27, 25-27, 18-16 in a back-and-forth match.

Once again, it was DiPaola leading the Lakers offense with 19 kills, but he was aided by Mark Zmojdzin's 16 kills this time. Zmojdzin also added nine blocks while Diamond had seven and DiPaola put up four himself. Michele Bascape added to his 39 assists against Viterbo with 37 helpers against Clarke.

Roosevelt earned a set point in the first set against the Pride and kept pace in the second set until Clarke scored the final seven points. Ever resilient, the Lakers fended off match point in the third set thanks to a DiPaola kill then picked up a kill from Esquival and another one from DiPaola to win the set. The Lakers had a pair of set points in the fourth before Zmojdzin blasted consecutive kills to force the deciding set. Roosevelt then had three chances to close out the match in the fifth set.

The Lakers now gear up for the Pilot Invite next weekend in Mishawaka, Ind. where they will face Lawrence Tech, Culver-Stockton and the hosts, Bethel, over the course of Friday and Saturday.