Lakers Fall Flat At Viterbo In CCAC Action

LA CROSSE, Wis. – Nothing was clicking for Roosevelt on Thursday night on the road as the Lakers fell swiftly in three sets against Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Viterbo in La Crosse, Wis.

The Lakers (6-11, 3-4 CCAC) never held a lead larger than 2-1, doing so in both of the opening two sets, and failed to mount much of a challenge against the V-Hawks. In the opening set, Roosevelt dropped the next five points after going up 2-1, and never recovered in a 25-14 setback. It was a slightly better second set with the Lakers staying within a point or two before losing five straight points late in a 25-18 second-set defeat. It was another 5-0 run that helped Viterbo pull away for a 25-14 win in the deciding set as well.

Shawn McCarthy led the way with 13 kills for Roosevelt, but he also committed 10 errors in his 42 attacks. Joseph Claffy tallied six kills as the only other Lakers player to have more than two kills in the match. Christopher Fermaintt had 11 digs from his spot at libero and Tony Galena set 20 assists for the Lakers, who hit just .034 as a team.

Viterbo hit .400 in the opening set to help it make quick work of Roosevelt. The V-Hawks went on a run of at least four consecutive points three times in the first set, including two that were part of a larger 13-2 run that turned the set from 9-6 to 22-8 in a hurry.

Roosevelt was never able to tie the second set after falling behind, but the Lakers did keep the V-Hawks within striking distance at 16-15. However, Viterbo had two aces during its subsequent 6-0 run to take control of the set. The Lakers also helped by committing 11 attacking errors in the second set as well.

The third set was tight at 12-10 before Viterbo smashed three kills and an ace as part of the defining 5-0 run to assert control of the final set. The V-Hawks then won six of the final seven points to finally end the misery for the Lakers.

Roosevelt will try to shake off the loss on Tuesday when it hosts Cardinal Stritch at 7 p.m. at the Goodman Center in its next match.