The Lake Forest College volleyball team defeated host Ripon College 25-19, 25-16, 23-25, 25-9 on Saturday and is now 2-1 on the season in Midwest Conference play. Forester junior Kristen Braun had a career-high 14 kills in the contest.
Braun, who committed just two errors in 24 attempts for an impressive .500 hitting percentage, was actually third on her team in kills. Classmates Cori Cooper and Molly McClockey finished with 17 and 15, respectively. Sophomore Tori Drasler had a team-high 23 asssists while freshman Torie Pasiewicz added 18.
Fellow Forester junior Tia Rupnik served up a career-high five aces and led all players in the match with 22 digs. McCloskey and Cooper added 13 and 12 digs, respectively, to post double-doubles. Freshman Brooke Perkins also reached double figures with 10 digs.
Lake Forest trailed by as many as four points early in the opening set. The score was 10-8 before a kill by Cooper started a four-point run and the Foresters would not trail again in the set.
A pair of 4-0 runs in the second set helped the visitors build a large lead. Ripon was unable to win consecutive points until the Foresters had a 22-11 lead and the set well in hand.
Lake Forest won the first point but did not lead again in set three. After falling behind 23-18, the Foresters battled back to within one point twice before the Red Hawks closed it out.
An 18-6 run during the fourth and final set helped clinch the victory for the Foresters, who are now within a match of .500 at 9-10 overall this year. Ripon fell to 5-20 overall and 1-5 in league play.
Lake Forest will play four matches in three days, beginning next Thursday at Beloit College (7:00 p.m.). The Foresters will also host Knox College Friday night at 7:00 and a triangular with Grinnell College and Trinity International University on Saturday.