ELGIN, Ill. – The Roosevelt men's volleyball team tied a program record with its third victory of the season as part of its performance at the Eagles Classic hosted by Judson over the weekend in Elgin.

The Lakers (3-6) played two games each on Friday and Saturday as part of the event, and were able to earn a split of Saturday's matches after some heartbreak on Friday.

Roosevelt showed off plenty of grit in its loss to Cornerstone on Friday morning, a match that began just 13 or so hours after the Lakers finished off their win over Trinity Christian on Thursday evening. The final scoreline on the first two sets reflected the short turnaround with the Golden Eagles capturing them 25-15 and 25-13. Yet the Lakers didn't fold and responded by winning a tough third set 25-20 before falling 25-14 in the fourth set.

The heartbreak came in a tough five-set loss to Olivet College later Friday in a back-and-forth match. Roosevelt let the opening set 20-16 after assuming control with a 7-2 spurt, but the Comets won nine of the final 10 points in the set to claim the opening set 25-21. The Lakers wasted no time jumping on Olivet in the second set for a 4-1 lead then held onto that advantage for a 25-18 triumph in the second set.

Olivet captured a topsy-turvy third set that featured seven ties, including one at 23-all. However, two errors gifted the Comets the final two points and forced the Lakers to win the final two sets to take home the match victory. Roosevelt accomplished half of the mission with a 25-22 win in the fourth set, distancing itself late with two kills from Shawn McCarthy and one from Daniel Mahoney to force the deciding set.

The Comets jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the fifth, forcing a Roosevelt timeout, but that did little to slow the momentum. The Lakers took a second timeout after losing four of the next five points, and were only able to cut the deficit to 13-10 before losing the final set 15-10. Conrad Para led three Lakers in double figures with 15 kills while McCarthy smashed down 13 and Mahoney had 11 in the loss. Tony Galeana dished out 37 assists in the setback while McCarthy led the Lakers with 16 digs.

Victory finally arrived for the Lakers in Saturday's opener as Roosevelt easily moved past Maranatha Baptist in straight sets. Para had 11 kills in the win and Galeana finished with 23 assists as the Lakers controlled the action from almost the opening serve. Roosevelt went on an 11-2 run to bust open the first set as the Lakers won the opener 25-15.

The Lakers then won 16 of the first 18 points in the second set to cruise to a 25-13 victory. The third set was the closest of the match as Roosevelt needed to win 12 of the final 18 point to emerge with a 25-19 win to complete the sweep. Coupled with the Lakers' win Thursday, it was the first time in the young history of the program Roosevelt has won two matches in a single week.

The Lakers ended the tournament with a rare non-conference matchup against a CCAC foe, losing in straight sets to Judson. Roosevelt was more competitive as the match wore on, losing the opening set 25-16 before forcing extra points in a 27-25 loss in the final set. McCarthy led Roosevelt with 13 kills and Para smashed down 11 while Galeana dished out 31 assists in just three sets.

Roosevelt now has a few days to recover before diving back into conference play Thursday at the Goodman Center against Calumet St. Joseph for a 7 p.m. start.