CHICAGO – Roosevelt dropped a tough four-set match to No. 2 Saint Xavier on Tuesday night at the Shannon Center in Chicago.
The Lakers (5-4) began the match by going toe-to-toe with the Cougars in the opening set, not allowing Saint Xavier to truly pull away. Jonathan Stovring came up big for Roosevelt after the Lakers fell behind 19-14, adding a kill and a solo block to help the Lakers trim the deficit to 22-21. However, the Cougars were still able to hold off the Lakers 25-22 in the opening set.
It was an even tighter second set between the two rivals as the Cougars were now chasing the lead. Roosevelt forced an early Saint Xavier timeout by jumping out to a 7-3 lead and the Lakers maintained that advantage until the Cougars tied the set at 22. From there, the teams almost traded points with Roosevelt having five set points and Saint Xavier having three chances to win the set before the Lakers held on 33-31.
Mark Zmojdzin, who led Roosevelt with 18 kills, took care of Saint Xavier's first two set points with kills to tie the score at 26 and 27. A service error squandered the Cougars' other chance before Zmojdzin finished the set with a kill on Roosevelt's sixth chance to even the score.
Roosevelt rode the momentum from that second set into the third by taking a 6-3 lead. However, Saint Xavier scored the next six points and never looked back in a 25-14 win in the third set. The Cougars then went on a 5-0 run to break open the fourth set and held on for a 25-18 win to seal the match.
Simone Mondin proved his defensive prowess at libero with 11 digs, twice as many as any other Lakers player in the match. Martino Bertagnoli dished out 30 assists and Andre Cippiciani added eight kills to the total. Zmojdzin hit .300 to pace the offense while Stovring finished with five blocks – two solos and three assisted – as Roosevelt's main net-front presence.
UP NEXT: Roosevelt returns home for another local opponent as the Lakers welcome Concordia (Ill.) to the Goodman Center on Saturday with first serve scheduled for 3 p.m.
