MARQUETTE, Mich. – Roosevelt once again hung tough in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup, but could not overcome Northern Michigan on Saturday in Marquette, Mich.

The Lakers (1-11, 0-4 GLIAC) made the Wildcats work for every point while pushing the first two sets past regulation. The match featured 23 ties and 13 lead changes before Northern Michigan fended off Roosevelt 26-24, 27-25, 25-22 to send the Lakers to their ninth straight loss this season.

Resilience was the key word for the Lakers in the opening set after Northern Michigan had the first extended run of the game. Alessia Isgro served up an ace for Roosevelt to put the Lakers ahead 15-13 and force a Wildcats timeout. Northern Michigan won eight of the next 10 points to take a four-point lead and it eventually had three set points. Instead, Isa Grana and Isgro scored kills sandwiched around a Northern Michigan error to tie the first set at 24.

Roosevelt took the first big lead of the second set at 16-12 on the back of a 6-2 run. The Lakers then had the first set point after an Isgro ace, but could not convert on their opportunity. They had one more chance to extend the match in the third set, but it required a wild comeback in order to give themselves a chance.

Northern Michigan was in full control of the third set while running its lead up to 23-12. Abigail Wutka came up with a kill to bring Natalia Smiech to the service line. The senior would serve the next eight points as the Lakers trimmed their deficit to 23-20. Smiech put down two of her three aces during the run and added a kill as well to complement a kill from Grana and one from Isgro. Grana also had a solo block during this stretch.

Isgro and Wutka shared the team lead with eight kills while Grana added six on 11 attempts. Jessica Maier had her best game in her young career as the freshman dished out a team-best 17 assists. Isgro led the Lakers with nine digs, one more than Zoe Hutchinson and two more than Regan Miessler, who also tied Smiech with three aces. Roosevelt served up 11 aces as a team.  

UP NEXT: Roosevelt takes a brief break from conference play Tuesday with a short trip to Lewis for a 6 p.m. non-conference match in Romeoville against the Flyers.