CHICAGO – Roosevelt ran its win streak to five games Saturday with a team-effort sweep of Thomas More in Great Lakes Valley Conference action at the Goodman Center.
Unlike Friday night, there was no need for heroics from any of the Lakers as they controlled the contest from the outset. Thomas More never led and never was tied in the first set as Roosevelt (13-5, 5-1 GLVC) cruised to a 25-13 win. The second set was a bit more competitive before the Lakers prevailed 25-20 then Roosevelt scored eight of the last nine points for a 25-22 win in the third set.
No one reached double figures in kills for Roosevelt with Simone Augugliaro leading the way with nine kills. Kajetan Bieniek and Mark Zmojdzin each had seven kills as the Lakers finished with just 32 kills as a team across the three sets. Augugliaro also led Roosevelt with 10 digs and three aces, edging out the six digs from Simone Mondin and two aces from Bieniek for the team lead.
Roosevelt was nearly perfect in the opening set, recording no attack errors in a set for the first time in program history. Augugliaro had four kills and Zmojdzin added three as the Lakers scored 13 kills on 17 attack attempts. Martino Bertagnoli dished out 11 of his 25 assists in the first set, helping Roosevelt jump out to a 4- 0 lead and never look back.
The Saints put up a much bigger fight in the second set with 11 ties and five lead changes across the set. However, Roosevelt seized on its chance after Thomas More committed a service error at 17-17, with Jonathan Stovring supplying a kill and a bad set from the Saints allowing the Lakers to build a three-point lead. Augugliaro then had two kills sandwiched around a Stovring ace to create set point.
It looked like Thomas More might force a fourth set when it went on a 5-1 run to break a 15-15 deadlock. The teams traded kills before the Saints committed a service error to make it 21-18. The poor serve started Roosevelt's winning rally as Braxton McGonigle teamed up with Ashton Stage for a block then McGonigle rose up for a kill. Auguguliaro served up three straight aces to bring up match point before another service error sealed the sweep.
UP NEXT: Roosevelt will head downstate next Friday and Saturday to face Quincy in a GLVC weekend series. The Lakers currently sit one game above the Hawks in the conference standings as the midway point of the league season approaches.
