Lakers Offense Comes Alive At Eagle Classic

ELGIN, Ill. – Roosevelt handled business Friday and Saturday at the Judson Eagle Classic, winning three of four matches in Elgin over the weekend.

The Lakers (6-8) had little trouble with Olivet to start the weekend with a comfortable 25-16, 25-17, 25-13 in which they trailed for only two points the entire match. Slow starts did little to discourage Roosevelt against Indiana Tech, rallying in both the first two sets before falling 25-22 and 25-23. The Lakers were in control for much of the third set to win it 25-21 then overcame a 13-8 deficit to tie the match with a 27-25 win in the fourth set. The Warriors, who were the first team out of this week's top-15 NAIA coaches poll, took the fifth 15-9.

Roosevelt similarly overpowered Midway 25-14, 25-15, 25-18 in the first match Saturday while hitting above .300 in the first and second sets. Calvin gave the Lakers a bit more of a push before Roosevelt triumphed 25-23, 25-22, 25-21 in the end.

It was a strong offensive weekend for the Lakers with the kills coming in bunches from their strongest hitters. Roosevelt hit above .200 in all four matches, including a season-best .310 against Calvin in the final match of the weekend Saturday.

Andrea DiPaola had 21 kills against Indiana Tech, one of four Lakers to finish with double-digit kills against the Warriors. Diego Esquivel added 18 kills while Mark Zmojdzin chipped in 12 and Lachlan Diamond had 11 kills to go along with his six blocks. Michele Bascape was the maestro of the offense with 57 assists in the match to help the Lakers and Miguel Mendez Palencia led the way with 22 digs.

On Saturday, it was a more everyone was getting involved in the offense with Esquivel leading the way against Midway with 10 kills. Esquivel also had 10 kills against Calvin, but was overshadowed by Zmojdzin's 15 kills on a .462 hitting percentage against the Knights. DiPaola had 16 total kills in those two matches and Bascape finished with 49 combined assists in the two wins.

Roosevelt returns to the comforts of the Goodman Center on Monday night to start its Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference slate at 7 p.m. against Trinity Christian.