HAMMOND, Ind. – A pair of slow starts in the first two sets came back to haunt Roosevelt on Friday on the first day of the Midwest Crossover in Hammond, Ind.

The Lakers (1-17) lost in four sets to William Jewell in their only match of the day, but managed to snap a 25-set skid in the process. The Cardinals took the first two sets 25-19 and 25-18 before Roosevelt stormed back with a 25-14 win in the third set. William Jewell claimed the fourth set 25-21 after the two teams went back and forth chasing the momentum in the set.

In the blink of an eye, the Lakers fell behind 6-1 in the first set before calling a timeout to settle down. Roosevelt did rally to tie the score at 6, but never led in the opening set as William Jewell pulled away with a 5-0 run to take a 22-16 lead.

It was a similar story in the second set as William Jewell built a 5-1 lead, only for Roosevelt to claw back to tie the match. This time, a 6-0 Cardinals run broke a 7-7 tie and the Lakers never fought closer than three points the rest of the set. Alessia Isgro had seven kills in those first two sets to lead an offense hitting just over .100 at that time.

Roosevelt again put itself in a similar situation in the third set with an early 4-1 deficit, but this time, the Lakers turned it around in a hurry. It was Roosevelt that went on the deciding run with a 6-1 streak to break the 9-9 tie. The stretch eventually was a 12-4 run for the Lakers behind Abigail Wutka's four kills and Lihi Zaibert's three finishes and two blocks. The Lakers hit .344 in the third set and limited the Cardinals to .056 in a set that seemed to turn the tide.

The fourth set was tight as the teams were tied six times and the lead changed hands four times. The Lakers had the first chance to capture momentum with a 4-0 run that gave them a 7-4 lead, but the Cardinals tied the set at 10. Instead, William Jewell put together a 6-0 run to turn a 16-15 lead into a seven-point advantage that was too much for the Lakers to overcome.

Wutka finished with a team-high 13 kills for the Lakers while Isgro had nine. Zaibert and Nekane Parera both added six kills, but Zaibert made more noise with her defense by recording seven blocks with one solo stuff and six assisted rejections. Cydney Martinez led the way with 13 digs and Isgro added 11 while Zoe Hutchinson had a team-best 22 assists.

UP NEXT: The Lakers play twice Saturday at the Midwest Crossover with a 9 a.m. rematch against Missouri S&T and a 2 p.m. matchup with Upper Iowa. Roosevelt and Missouri S&T met last month in a non-conference event in Kenosha, Wis., a match the Miners won in straight sets.