Roosevelt Falls Short Against Rio Grande At Home

CHICAGO – Roosevelt ran out of steam Monday night at the Goodman Center while falling to Rio Grande in four sets in a non-conference match.

The Lakers (6-14) surged at the right time in the opening set against the RedStorm with six straight points out of a timeout to turn a 14-11 deficit into a 17-14 lead. After Rio Grande closed the deficit to one, Roosevelt won four straight points then took advantage of some errors to close out the first set 25-20.

The energy did not last in the second and third sets with Rio Grande methodically able to pull away from Roosevelt in both sets. In the second, the RedStorm took an early 8-3 lead, but the Lakers were able to close the gap back to 11-9 before Rio Grande responded to go up 15-11. After a Daniel Mahoney kill, the RedStorm won five of the next six points then were perfectly content trading points with the Lakers until they sealed the set 25-19.

Rio Grande took an early three-point lead in the third set and Roosevelt's deficit hovered there for a long stretch of traded points. However by the middle of the set, the RedStorm began winning two points between each Roosevelt point and the deficit swelled to as many as seven, where it would stay as Rio Grande closed out the set 25-18.

Roosevelt fell behind 6-1 to start the fourth set prompting a Lakers timeout, but the message in the huddle seemed to recharge the tired legs. The Lakers won the next five points to tie the set as part of a 13-3 run to take the 14-9 lead. However, that push proved to be the last stand for the Lakers as the RedStorm won five of the next six points to kickstart a 16-7 run to close the match with a 25-21 win in the fourth.

Shawn McCarthy led the Lakers with 10 kills and Conrad Para added nine as well in the loss. Mahoney had eight kills and just one error for a .438 hitting percentage and Joseph Claffy slammed down five kills without a single error. Claffy and McCarthy, though, combined to become a stone wall at times for Roosevelt as Claffy finished with one solo block and six assisted blocks while McCarthy had five assisted blocks as part of the Lakers' nine blocks in the match.

The Lakers return to the court Tuesday at Olivet Nazarene at 7 p.m. to begin the four-game push against CCAC foes to end the season.