HAMMOND, Ind. – Roosevelt won its second match of the season in a split on the second day of the Midwest Regional Crossover on Saturday in Hammond, Ind.

The Lakers (2-17) played in the first and final blocks of the day and were able to win at least one set in both matches they played. Roosevelt opened the day by grinding out a 31-29, 25-22, 25-17 win over William Jewell to ensure every Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team won at least once at the annual matchup between the
GLIAC, Great Lakes Valley Conference and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

In what proved to be the last match of the event, Roosevelt nearly pulled off a second straight win, but fell 25-14, 21-25, 25-14, 25-23 to McKendree. The Lakers finished their inaugural appearance at the event 1-2 as the GLIAC compiled a 19-14 record overall.

ROOSEVELT 3, WILLIAM JEWELL 0

Roosevelt's confidence grew in the match after the Lakers captured a back-and-forth first set that featured 11 ties and six lead changes with both teams having multiple chances to close out the set. A 6-1 run in the middle of the first set gave the Lakers some momentum and they extended their lead to as many as seven.

Roosevelt had three chances to win the set in regulation, but lost four straight points to stave off a set point for William Jewell. The Lakers faced another set point at 25-26, but had their own chances to win the set at 27-26, 28-27 and 29-28 until Aleksandra Barac finally converted at 30-29.

The second and third sets for equally tough for the Lakers, but they held the control for most of both games. Roosevelt scored the first three points in the second set then won five of the last seven to break a 20-20 deadlock. The Lakers never trailed in the second set as Barac powered the attack with seven kills to give the Lakers a 2-0 lead.
William Jewell kept the third set close early, but after a Viktoria Marysheva ace to give the Lakers a 9-8 lead, Roosevelt never trailed again. Instead, the Lakers pulled away with seven of the final eight points to take home their second win of the season.

Barac paced three Lakers in double figures with 14 kills as Marysheva registered 12 and Emily DeBlecourt had 11. Yuliia Shchepkina added nine kills of her own and was one of five players with multiple blocks. Isa Grana had 32 assists and a team-best 12 digs and DeBlecourt added 11 digs as both also had multiple blocks. Barac and Krista Norton had three blocks while the other trio had two each.

McKENDREE 3, ROOSEVELT 1

The Lakers got off on the wrong foot in the match and fell behind 3-0, a deficit they would struggle to overcome. Although Roosevelt pulled to within a point of the Bearcats several times in the set, McKendree went on an 11-2 run to pull away and claim the opening set.

A serve into the net to start the second set gave Roosevelt its first lead of the match, but McKendree won the next point and maintained a small advantage through the middle of the set. The tide changed at 13-11 in favor of the Bearcats as Aleksandra Barac smashed down three straight kills and the Lakers kept the pressure on the Bearcats to open up a three-point lead. Although McKendree did battle back to tie the set at 19, the Lakers won six of the last eight points to even the match.

The third set quickly got away from the Lakers before they rallied to make the score more respectable than the 17-5 deficit might have suggested. Roosevelt trailed by as many as seven early in the fourth set, but gritted out some key runs to shrink the deficit. Eventually, the Lakers staved off three match points with a pair of Emily DeBlecourt kills sandwiching a Barac ace.

Barac led the Lakers with 13 kills and 12 digs, and DeBlecourt added nine kills. Cydney Martinez served up three aces and contributed nine digs, but freshman Vivienne Merchant stole the show with her stellar defense with 10 digs, six of which came in the fourth set. Isa Grana also added 10 digs to go along with her 18 assists in the setback.

UP NEXT: Roosevelt will play its third home game of the season Friday when it welcomes unbeaten, fourth-ranked Ferris State to the Goodman Center for the only matchup of the season between the squads.