Spaniards Shine For Lakers In Win Over Fighting Saints

JOLIET, Ill. – Roosevelt showed plenty of mental fortitude Thursday night to take down St. Francis in five sets in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup in Joliet.

The Lakers (9-13, 5-7 CCAC) have now won six matches in five sets as they continue the trend of being a tough team to face with the postseason nearing. Roosevelt took the opening set 25-20 before dropping set two 25-15 and losing a tight third set 27-25. It rebounded to claim the fourth set 25-16 before leaving no doubt in the fifth set with a 15-6 victory.

Isa Grana started off the fifth set with a bang by dialing up her third ace of the night before her compatriot Joana Rafols smashed down a pair of kills to give Roosevelt an early 3-0 lead. Emily DeBlecourt responded to St. Francis' first point of the set with back-to-back kills to start a steamroll for the Lakers. The scoreline quickly jumped to 11-3 in Roosevelt's favor with Viktoria Marysheva adding two kills, and the Lakers never let the Fighting Saints claim any momentum.

It was fitting that Grana and Rafols jumpstarted the Lakers in the fifth set as the two freshmen from Spain were the spark plugs the entire night. Grana set a career high with 47 assists in the win while Rafols set her season best with 21 kills to hit .333, her second-best percentage of the season. The duo also made their presence known as receivers, tying with 13 digs each to finish behind Olivia Adams' 23.

Roosevelt left nothing up to chance to start the match by racing out to an 11-2 lead, which included the first five points of the match. St. Francis closed to within three late in the set before the Lakers closed out the set with the final two points. The second set was similar but in reverse as the Fighting Saints controlled much of the game without allowing the Lakers to gather much steam.

The Lakers led for much of the third set before St. Francis rallied late, but there was no stopping Roosevelt in the fourth. DeBlecourt had a pair of kills during an early 6-0 run, which was capped by a double block from DeBlecourt and Yuliia Shchepkina. The entire Lakers offense got involved to push the lead out to 18-9 and there was no looking back as Roosevelt cruised to force a familiar fifth set.

In addition to Rafols, DeBlecourt finished with a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs. Shchepkina finished with four total blocks in the match while Marysheva had nine kills. Brooke Williams made her presence known early with seven kills, four of which came in the first set.

Roosevelt returns home to the Goodman Center for its final two matches of the regular season, starting with Saturday night's 7 p.m. matchup against Governors State. The match is the Lakers' annual Dig Pink Night, and you can donate to the cause at https://giving.side-out.org/campaigns/19935.