MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – Roosevelt struggled to find consistent momentum in a tough three-set loss to Barry on Saturday in the final day of matches at the Barry Invitational.

The Lakers (1-12) hung tough with the host Buccaneers in the first two sets, grinding away at deficits to nearly rally for a win. However, they seemingly ran out of gas in the third set as Barry sealed its 25-21, 25-23, 25-19 win over Roosevelt. Kajetan Bieniek led the Lakers with 11 kills on a .391 hitting percentage while Andrea Di Paola added nine kills for Roosevelt.

Barry took control of the first set with a 5-1 run after the teams were knotted at 10, but Roosevelt never let the Buccaneers stretch that lead. The Lakers cut the deficit to one twice in the opening set, once at 16-15 and then again at 19-18, but neither time could they manage to score the tying point.

It felt like the same story in the second set as Barry won five straight points after Roosevelt edged out to an 8-7 lead in the set. This time, the Lakers slowly but surely chipped away at the lead until they faced set points. Mark Zmojdzin had the first kill to make it 24-22 then Bieniek followed with a kill to put Zmojdzin on the service line with a chance to extend the set.

Roosevelt took command early in the third set by scoring four of the first five points in the game. Yet the Buccaneers scored the next six and 12 of the next 15 to take control of the deciding set. The Lakers did try to make a run at the hosts, cutting the deficit to within four on a combined block from Diego Esquivel and Zmojdzin, but that was as close as Roosevelt would get.

Esquivel had three blocks for the Lakers and Michele Bascape led the way with 21 assists. As a team, Roosevelt hit a solid .253, but Barry hit .366 to outflank the Lakers defense.

UP NEXT: The Lakers return home to play their reschedule match against Trinity Christian on Wednesday at 6 p.m. inside the Goodman Center.