ST. LOUIS – Roosevelt's historic 2026 campaign came to an end Saturday afternoon with a tight three-set loss to Maryville in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament hosted by the top-seeded Saints.
Although the Lakers (16-11) rarely led in the match, they never let the Saints run too far away either. Maryville was able to build up a 19-11 lead in the opening set, but Roosevelt clawed back to within three twice late in the set to put pressure on the Saints. It happened again in the third set when Maryville took a six-point edge and watched it shrink to as little as two before holding off Roosevelt.
Maryville's net presence played a major role in the first set as the Saints had five blocks in the 25-20 set. Roosevelt had the same number of kills as the Saints with 11 each, but half of the Lakers' 10 attacking errors came on those blocks at the net.
The Saints didn't have a single block in the second set as the Lakers managed to avoid the hands above the net. Mark Zmojdzin had six kills in the set and Kajetan Bieniek had three, but did nearly as much damage at the service line. After the teams traded points for most of the first half of the set, Bieniek served up consecutive aces to give the Lakers a 17-13 edge. Roosevelt battled to maintain the edge for the rest of the set before Maryville clipped it 25-23 in the end.
Roosevelt hit .323 in the third set with Zmjodzin leading the way with five kills while getting stuffed just once at the net. The Lakers also had 15 digs defensively in the third set, but the Saints were able to emerge with a 25-21 victory.
In his final collegiate match, Zmojdzin had 16 kills and an ace to finish with 373 kills this season. Bieniek and Jonathan Stovring each added seven kills apiece while Simone Mondin led the way with nine digs. Martino Bertagnoli dished out 31 assists and added seven digs as well to finish on 791 helpers this year. Â Â
