DUBUQUE, Iowa – Roosevelt could not carry over the momentum from its season-opening win, dropping a pair of contests Saturday at a tri-match hosted by Clarke in Dubuque, Iowa.

AUGUSTANA 3, ROOSEVELT 1

The Lakers (1-2) began the day against Augustana and nearly forced a deciding fifth set after dropping the first two. In the opening set, Roosevelt was not just keeping pace with the Vikings, but actually led 19-16 with Joseph Claffy up to serve. The Vikings scored five straight points to take the lead and the Lakers committed two errors down the stretch to fall 25-21 in the first set.

The second set was never really competitive, unfortunately for the Lakers, who lost six of seven points two different times in the set before falling 25-16. With their backs against the wall, though, the Lakers came out swinging and they connected on almost everything. Roosevelt hit .400 in the third set with 14 kills to just two errors in rolling to a 25-18 victory to extend the match.

The fourth set was a tense affair as neither side was able to separate itself much until the set was tied at 19. A trio of consecutive kills from Augustana proved to be the difference as the teams then just traded kills until the Vikings won the match with a 25-22 win in he fourth.

Conrad Para knocked down 15 kills to lead the Lakers and Shawn McCarthy added 14 more in the defeat. Tony Galeana dished out 30 assists for Roosevelt and Christopher Fermaintt dug out 15 balls in the match.

CLARKE 3, ROOSEVELT 0

In the second match of the day, the Lakers drew up against the hosts, and the Pride overwhelmed the Lakers in a straight-sets victory. Clarke finished the match with a .323 hitting percentage and never trailed by more than a single point in any of the three sets. Roosevelt hit just .022 in the loss to Clarke with Para's team-leading 12 kills counterbalanced by 11 errors.

The Pride easily swept the opening two sets 25-15 and 25-13, putting a lot of pressure on the Lakers' offense in both sets. In the opener, Clarke won seven straight points early in the set to take a 10-4 lead, and three of those points came off Roosevelt errors. The Lakers did scored the next four points to tighten the gap in the first set, but after trailing 12-10, the Lakers surrendered 11 of the next 13 points to put no doubt in the first-set result.

Clarke blew up the second set with a dominant offensive display late in the set with six kills during an 8-1 run. The Pride smacked down 16 kills to just two errors in the second set, forcing Roosevelt to again try to rally from two sets down.

The third set was the Lakers' most competitive of the match with the Pride, but it wasn't enough to start a comeback. Roosevelt led 13-12 after a Clarke error, but the Lakers committed six errors on the next eight points. Down by five, the Lakers responded out of a timeout with three straight points, but two final errors on the last two points handed the Pride a 25-21 win in the final set.

Roosevelt opens Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference action with its home opener Tuesday at 7 p.m. when it welcomes Olivet Nazarene to the Goodman Center. The contest is the team's Green Out, so fans are encouraged to dress in all green to support the Lakers.