CHICAGO – Roosevelt turned up the heat in the final two sets to stave off an upset bid from Thomas More in a five-set win in Great Lakes Valley Conference action Friday night at the Goodman Center.

The Lakers entered the night riding a three-game winning streak, but came out flat in a 25-14 setback in the first set. They responded by winning the second set 27-25 before the Saints took the third set 25-21 to put Roosevelt on its heels. However, the Lakers cruised 25-16 in the fourth set without trailing then rode the momentum into a 15-10 fifth-set win to seal the match.

Mark Zmojdzin came alive in the fourth and fifth sets for Roosevelt (12-5, 4-1 GLVC) with nine kills on a .571 hitting percentage over the two sets. The senior led the Lakers with 18 kills in the match and was joined in double figures by Jonathan Stovring, who finished on 10 kills in 17 chances. Kajetan Bieniek added nine kills as well for the Lakers, who swung .462 in the final two sets to finish off the fiery Saints.

Roosevelt showed off its potential in the fourth set when the normal starting lineup entered and quickly took control. The Lakers won the first four points and opened up a 9-3 lead before Thomas More took timeout. The Saints never closed to within five the rest of the way as the Lakers held Thomas More to a negative hitting percentage while committing just two attacking errors themselves. Zmojdzin had five kills in the fourth set and Simone Augugliaro added three of his own.

The fifth set was a continuation of the fourth after Roosevelt spotted Thomas More a 5-2 lead. Coming out of the timeout, the Lakers won six of the next seven points and never looked back in pulling away for the win. Zmojdzin ended up with four kills in the fifth while Augugliaro and Bieniek each had two.

It is not a shock that the Lakers played much better when the defense was playing better. Simone Mondin finished with 15 digs in the match, 13 of which came in the sets Roosevelt won. He had six in the second set, three in the fourth and four more in the fifth. It translated to Mondin's teammates as well with Zmojdzin picking up five digs in the second set and Bieniek adding four in the fifth set.  

Thomas More came out enthused in the first set and quickly put some distance between itself and Roosevelt. The Saints went on an 8-1 run to break an 8-8 tie and the Lakers didn't have a response, winning consecutive points just once after it was 8-8.

It looked like the Lakers might have been building some momentum early in the second set when they strung together five straight points to build a three-point lead. However, consecutive aces from the Saints tied the set and Roosevelt struggled to build a multi-point lead again. The Lakers earned three set points after Bieniek served up one of his three aces, but the Saints fought off all three of them then spoiled a fourth set point before Zmojdzin ended the second set with a kill.

Roosevelt fell behind 6-2 in the third set before Zmojdzin recorded a kill to step to the service line. He changed the trajectory of the set by leading a 7-0 run that included a pair of Roosevelt blocks and two kills from Stovring. Yet the Saints did not falter and managed to claw back and eventually hold off another Lakers rally.

UP NEXT: Roosevelt will try to extend its winning streak to five Saturday at 2 p.m. as the Lakers go for the sweep against the Saints.