Lakers Fall To Eagles Despite Strong Start

CHICAGO – Roosevelt's strong start fizzled out against Judson as the Lakers dropped a four-set decision to the Eagles on Tuesday night at the Goodman Center.

After being swept in a pair of Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference matches last week, the Lakers (8-12, 1-4 CCAC) came out strong against another conference foe. Roosevelt took a commanding 6-1 lead in the opening set and forced an early timeout from Judson. The Lakers never looked back to cruise to a 25-21 win in the first set behind four kills from Andrea DiPaola and three from Mark Zmojdzin.

The second set swung back and forth with both teams seizing important momentum over the final half of the set. Judson strung together six straight points to take a 17-13 lead over Roosevelt, but the Lakers responded with six of the next eight points to tie the set at 19. The Lakers then had a few chances to close a two-point gap, but fell just a tad short with a 25-22 setback.

Roosevelt dropped the first four points of the third set, but roared back with seven straight points to take control. This time, the Eagles' 7-0 run in the middle of the set was enough to distance themselves from the Lakers, who clawed back within two on several occasions before Judson captured the set 25-20. The Eagles were in full control of the fourth set to close out the match with a 25-15 victory in the set.

DiPaola led the Lakers with 12 kills and Diego Esquivel finished with 11 to lead the Lakers attack. Defensively, Miguel Mendez Palencia was all over the court with a team-high 20 digs and Lachlan Diamon supplied four blocks at the net. DiPaola and Zmojdzin had the only two solo blocks for the Lakers, who finished with nine blocks total.

The Lakers return to the floor March 21 when they host St. Ambrose at 7 p.m. inside the Goodman Center.