HAMMOND, Ind. – The queens of the five-setters returned in style at Purdue Northwest on Saturday afternoon as Roosevelt defeated the host Pride in five sets in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match in Hammond, Ind.

After setting a program record last season for five set matches, it took until the third-to-last match of the season for the Lakers to go the distance. Purdue Northwest took the first set 25-18 then Roosevelt responded with a 25-18 win in the second. The Pride took the third set 25-21 only for the Lakers (4-21, 2-12 GLIAC) to claim the fourth 25-18 and then win the deciding set 15-9.  

The victory was a sign of the maturation and growth within the Roosevelt program during its first season at the Division II level. After losing the nine of the last 11 points in the opening set, which included dropping the final five points, the Lakers didn't start the second set particularly well. The Pride won the first five points of that game to force an early timeout from the Roosevelt bench.

Roosevelt was able to rally and tie the set at 11, and that seemed to bring all the energy and confidence the Lakers would need. The Lakers won seven straight points to turn a 13-11 deficit into an 18-13 lead and they never looked back with Emily DeBlecourt supplying five kills.
DeBlecourt and Viktoria Marysheva both had five kills in a tight third set before the Lakers dominated the fourth set. Roosevelt never trailed in the set with Marysheva leading the way with five kills as Purdue Northwest also handed the Lakers 12 points off errors, not including Roosevelt's three aces. The Lakers stormed out to a 7-1 lead in the fifth set and never looked back to claim the match.

Aleksandra Barac led the way on offense with 16 kills, including three in the deciding fifth set, and she also had one of Roosevelt's seven solo blocks. DeBlecourt finished with 14 kills and just two errors for a .375 hitting percentage and Marysheva swung .211 with 13 kills. Krista Norton and Yuliia Shchepkina both had two blocks while Cydney Martinez set a season high with 19 digs and eight assists.

Isa Grana did it all for Roosevelt, leading the team with 35 assists while also serving up four aces and smashing down five kills, both of which were career bests for the sophomore. As a team, Roosevelt hit .237, the third-best percentage it has recorded this season, and the Lakers' 12 aces also were the third-most in a match this year.  

UP NEXT: Roosevelt returns to the comforts of the Goodman Center for its final two matches of the season. The Lakers welcome Wayne State to downtown Chicago on Friday at 6 p.m. for a special Senior Night match before hosting Grand Valley State on Saturday at 4 p.m.