The Lake Forest College volleyball team defeated visiting Knox College 25-16, 25-22, 25-18 Friday night and is now 11-10 overall this season and 4-1 in Midwest Conference play. Forester junior Cori Cooper led all players in the match with 15 kills and six aces.
Cooper had a hitting percentage of .297 on the night. In addition to her six aces, the Foresters scored nine more points while Cooper was serving and she committed just one error on the 18 serves she received. She was also second on the team with eight digs.
Fellow junior Molly McCloskey had 10 kills and led the home team with 11 digs. McCloskey, junior Kristen Braun, and sophomore Tori Drasler each had three blocks and Drasler tallied a match-high 18 assists.
Lake Forest trailed 3-1 in the opening set before winning 11 of the next 13 points to take control. The home team's lead fluctuated between seven and 11 points the rest of the way.
Cooper started set two with a kill and two aces as the Foresters jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Knox eventually battled back, however, and took its first lead of the set at 18-17. The score was tied at 20 before Lake Forest pulled ahead for good and closed out the set on a kill by sophomore Stephanie Hill.
With Cooper serving, Lake Forest won the first three points of the third set and never trailed again. The Prairie Fire tied the score at six before a kill by Cooper put the home team ahead for good. The margin reached six but was back down to three (21-18) before four straight points by the Foresters secured the victory.
Knox fell to 0-22 overall and 0-8 in league play.
Lake Forest will play for the third straight day tomorrow. They will host another MWC match against Grinnell College at 11:00 a.m. and a non-conference contest atgainst Trinity International University at 3:00 in the afternoon. Grinnell and Trinity International will play each other at 1:00.
