Powerful Offense Propels Lakers To CCAC Win

CHICAGO – The Roosevelt men's volleyball team put together its best offensive match since the program arrived at Roosevelt with a sweep of Trinity Christian on Monday night in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference opener at the Goodman Center.

The Lakers (7-8, 1-0 CCAC) hit .443 over the three matches with 45 kills to just 10 errors on 79 total swings. Roosevelt registered a .440 hitting percentage in the first set to take it 25-22, then followed up with a .467 in a 29-27 second-set victory and a .417 in a 28-26 third-set triumph to close out the match. Mark Zmojdzin led the Lakers with 15 kills, but his .458 hitting percentage was second behind Andrea DiPaola's .480 with 14 kills. Michele Bascape dished out 37 assists and Terrance Young Jr. led the team with three blocks in the victory.

Roosevelt broke open the first set with a timely run on Diego Esquivel's serve, turning a 10-10 tie into a 15-10 advantage. Esquivel had two of his three aces in the match during that run with Zmojdzin and Young adding kills during that span as well. Esquivel also was an asset away from the service line with four kills on six swings in the first set.

Zmojdzin had six kills in the second set to propel the Lakers in a tight second set in which neither team led by more than two points. Roosevelt had two set points before Zmojdzin ended the set on the team's third attempt with a kill. In the third set, the Lakers fell behind 20-14 before winning 10 of the next 13 points to set up the first match point. DiPaola had seven kills in the third set with his final one coming to bring up the decisive fourth attempt at match point.

Roosevelt returns to action Friday in La Crosse, Wis. with a tri-match against Viterbo and Maranatha Baptist. The Lakers' 1 p.m. match against Viterbo will count in the CCAC standings while the 3 p.m. matchup against the Sabercats is a non-conference game.