CHICAGO – Roosevelt momentum was halted in the second set and the Lakers did not recover in a four-set loss to Parkside in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match Thursday at the Goodman Center.

The Lakers (2-23, 1-12 GLIAC) began the evening with their annual Senior Night ceremony, and the emotions propelled Roosevelt in the opening set. Roosevelt won the set 25-21 while surviving 14 ties and four lead changes in the set. However, the Rangers took control with a 6-0 run in the second set to overturn an 18-15 Roosevelt lead, and Parkside went on to win the final three sets.

Alessia Isgro has four kills on six attempts in the opening set to lead the Lakers in a back-and-forth game. Parkside took a 13-10 lead to force a Roosevelt timeout, but the Lakers came out of the breather to rally and tie the set at 15. The teams traded points until Isa Grana and Isgro had kills sandwiched around a Rangers error to give the Lakers some cushion. Cydney Martinez went to the service line with the Lakers leading 23-21 and ended the set with consecutive aces.

Roosevelt rode the wave of emotion and a raucous bench to start the second set with firm control over the match. Parkside took a timeout with the Lakers leading 18-15 and the Rangers then scored the next six points to flip the match. The Rangers would score 10 of the last 11 points in the second set to win 25-19.

The third set was equally touch and go between the two teams with 10 ties and six lead changes as neither team led by more than three until Parkside finished the set 25-21.
Parkside scored consecutive points to break a 20-20 tie then came up with two big blocks to finish off the set. R

Parkside scored six straight points to open the fourth set, and Roosevelt fought the uphill battle the rest of the way. The Rangers would go on to win the set 25-17 with the Lakers never able to close the deficit to within five the rest of the set.

Isgro led the Lakers with 13 kills, becoming the first Roosevelt attacker to have five straight matches with double-digit kills since the transition to Division II. Lihi Zaibert finished with nine kills and a .444 hitting percentage while Abigail Wutka added eight kills to her freshman year. Martinez led the way with 13 digs on defense while Nekane Parera and Vivienne Merchant tied with four blocks each. Grana had six kills and 15 assists to go along with six digs while Zoe Hutchinson added 15 assists for the Lakers.

UP NEXT: Roosevelt takes the short drive to Purdue Northwest on Friday to face the Pride starting at 6 p.m. in Hammond, Ind.