ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Roosevelt's season came to a heartbreaking end in five sets against Thomas More on Friday in the play-in round of the Independent Volleyball Association tournament in St. Louis.

The Lakers (5-17) entered the event as the ninth seed, but playing their best volleyball of the season, and that was on display against the Saints. Roosevelt took the opening set 25-22 before dropping the next two games 25-18 and 25-17. The Lakers stayed alive with a 25-19 win in the fourth set before battling back from six points down to take a lead in the fifth set before falling 15-13.

Kajetan Bieniek led the Lakers with 15 kills, followed closely by 14 from Diego Esquivel and 13 from Andrea Di Paola. That trio each had four kills in the opening set, sparking Roosevelt at different times in the set. Bieniek had back-to-back kills to give the Lakers a 20-19 lead then Di Paola had three kills over the final five points to push Roosevelt across the finish line in the first set.

The Saints controlled the second set after going on a 10-2 run then used a 9-2 run in the third set to pull away as well. Bieniek gave the Lakers a boost with five early kills in the fourth set to help set the tone, but Roosevelt was able to force four consecutive errors from Thomas More after an Esquivel kill to turn a 16-15 deficit into a 20-16 lead. A kill from Di Paola and an ace from Esquivel helped the Lakers maintain the momentum and force the fifth set.

Roosevelt had a rough start to the tiebreaker, dropping the first four points before taking a timeout. The Saints led 8-2 and were poised to make it 9-2 before a challenge overturned the call on the court and gave Mark Zmojdzin a kill. That moment sparked a rally as Roosevelt overturned a 9-3 deficit into a 12-11 lead.

Michele Bascape had 39 assists to lead the team while Bieniek led the group with 11 digs. Di Paola had five blocks, one solo and four combination, and both Lachlan Diamond and Zmojdzin had three blocks in the setback.

The Lakers will join the Great Lakes Valley Conference for the 2026 season with many of the members who participated in the IVA this season. Thomas More and Roosevelt are both associate members of the conference for men's volleyball, and will be joined in the league by full members Maryville, Missouri S&T, Quincy, Rockhurst and Southwest Baptist. Of the seven teams, only Southwest Baptist, which will start its program next year, and Quincy, which competed in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, were not at the IVA Tournament this season.