SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A stronger offensive showing Saturday helped Roosevelt split its final two matches at the UIS Invite hosted by UIS in Springfield, Ill.

The Lakers (1-3) opened the day with a convincing four-set win over Kentucky Wesleyan in which three players all ended on 11 kills. Roosevelt then lost against the hosts in three very tightly-contested sets to close out the weekend of action.

Roosevelt dropped the first set to Kentucky Wesleyan 25-19, but took over the match in the next three sets for its first victory of the season. Aleksandra Barac had seven of her 11 kills in the second set to help power the Lakers to a 25-21 win to even up the match. The third set belonged to Lihi Zaibert, who had three kills and three blocks to lead the Lakers to a 25-16 win. The fourth set was an all-around team effort as five players had multiple kills in yet another 25-16 victory.

Barac was efficient on offense with 11 kills on 17 swings for a .529 hitting percentage in her only two sets of action. Alessia Isgro was more balanced with her 11 kills, recording multiple kills in all four sets while Ella Anne Portu had four kills in the first set before finishing on 11. Zoe Hutchinson led the Lakers offense with 18 assists, but freshman Jessica Maier added 11 helpers and Isa Grana had eight.

Zaibert dominated the net against the Panthers with eight blocks to go along with her seven kills in three sets. Portu had five blocks and Grana was part of four stuffs as Roosevelt finished with 13 blocks as a team. Elsewhere on defense, Cydney Martinez had 22 digs to set a new career best.

The momentum from the Kentucky Wesleyan match did not translate immediately to facing off with UIS. The Prairie Stars won the first six points and eight of the first nine to take a commanding lead, and they continued to stretch it until it was 22-12. Nekane Parera recorded a kill to turn the ball over to Martinez at the service line, and the senior delivered four aces in a run that cut the lead down to 22-19 before UIS held on 25-20.

The second set didn't start off well either for Roosevelt and once again the Lakers found themselves down double figures in the middle of the set. The Lakers clawed back to within four, but it wasn't enough as the Prairie Stars won the second set 25-20. Roosevelt led by as many as five in the third set, but the back-and-forth game eventually fell in UIS' favor 25-23.

Zaibert had five kills in the second set and four more in the third to finish with 10 for the match. Isgro slammed down four kills in the first set and ended with nine in the match as the only other player to reach five kills. Martinez finished with five aces and led the team with six digs against UIS.

UP NEXT: Roosevelt heads just north of the border to Kenosha, Wis. to participate in the Hampton Inn Invitational hosted by Parkside. The Lakers open the event Thursday at 5 p.m. against Bemidji State before playing two matches Friday and one on Saturday.