CHICAGO – When coach Kelly Magliano pulled out her challenge card after a Jonathan Stovring serve was ruled too long, a fifth set felt inevitable on Thursday at the Goodman Center.

The serve – which was indeed judged to be out of bounds after review – gave Barton a 20-13 lead in the fourth set against Roosevelt and the Bulldogs were on the precipice of forcing a fifth set after dropping the first two. But in that makeshift timeout, Magliano looked at her team and reminded them that all of the pressure was still with Barton. The Lakers had another set to try and win the match, the Bulldogs needed that one.

The pep talk was not the reason the Lakers came back to defeat the Bulldogs in four sets in a non-conference match. It was simply a reminder of what potential was still lurking inside Roosevelt's lineup, an energy that was immediately on display after the replay review. Mark Zmojdzin had three kills sandwiched around a Bulldogs attacking error, forcing a Barton timeout. Yet another error made it 20-18 before Barton was able to stop the slide.

Barton had five chances to claim the fourth set on its serve, and each time, the Lakers (3-3) responded with a big play. At first it was Andre Cippiciani with a kill to tie the set at 24, then Braxton McGonigle rose up for his only two kills of the match to knot the game at 29 then 30. Martino Bertagnoli and Stovring rose in unison to reject a Barton attack to set up a third match point for Roosevelt, then Cippiciani came through with the final kill shot.

Roosevelt's offense was humming along in the first set with Kajetan Bieniek smashing four kills and Zmojdzin adding three in a comfortable 25-17 win. The Lakers hit .474 in the opening set and was complemented by Bieniek's powerful serve. The sophomore from Poland served up three aces in a four-point span as part of an 8-1 run that gave Roosevelt separation after the set was tied at 11.

The second set was closer on paper as Roosevelt squeaked by with a 25-23 victory, but Barton actually hit worse in the second set than it did in the first. The Lakers hit a respectable .258, but those eight errors offsetting the 16 kills gave the Bulldogs some hope. Cippiciani and Zmojdzin both had four kills in the second set and Bertagnoli dished out 14 assists to help the Lakers.

Stovring had five big kills in the third set, but it was the least efficient set for the Roosevelt offense as Barton pulled away for a 25-21 win. That set the stage for the marathon fourth set and the comeback to stem the tide of momentum coming from Barton's half of the floor. The Bulldogs scored nine of the first 11 points in the set, which included consecutive errors from Zmojdzin.

Magliano pulled her leading attacker off the court after the second mistake and gave Zmojdzin a brief respite to reset. When he returned a few points later, he was a different player – one that ripped nine kills and just one error over the remainder of the set. Zmojdzin finished with a team-best 19 kills, one of three Roosevelt players in double figures in the kills department.

Bieniek finished with 10 kills and Stovring joined him with 10 kills as well with Bertagnoli conducting a masterful offensive performance with 40 assists. Simone Mondin held down the fort defensively for the Lakers with his movement and effort, and was credited with 10 official digs in addition to three assists. Stovring was part of five of Roosevelt's seven blocks in the match to lead the net effort.  

UP NEXT: The Lakers and Bulldogs will face off again Saturday at the Goodman Center at 3 p.m.