The Lake Forest College volleyball team dropped the first set 25-14 but won the next three 25-13, 25-20, 25-10 to defeat host Ripon College Saturday night. Forester senior Kristen Braun returned from injury to record a season-high 13 kills.
Braun committed just two errors in 16 total attempts for an impressive .688 hitting percentage. Lake Forest's hitting percentage on the night was .278 while the Red Hawks were at just .115.
Senior Molly McCloskey led the Foresters with 15 kills and 23 digs and now has exactly 1,098 of each in her career. Sophomore Torie Pasiewicz had 41 assists and 15 digs and senior Courtney Faulstick led the visitors in blocks with five.
After a 6-0 Red Hawk run in the first set gave the home team a 14-3 lead, the Foresters were unable to get any closer than seven the rest of the way.
Lake Forest earned the first two points of the second set and opened up six-point leads at 9-3 and 12-6. Leading 15-11, the visitors scored 10 of the next 12 points to close out the set.
The third set was tied at 16 before the Foresters pulled away. A block by Braun and fellow senior Cori Cooper closed out the 25-20 victory.
Lake Forest was ahead 7-6 in the fourth set before going on a match-clinching 15-3 run. A kill by Faulstick finished off the victory.
The Foresters are now 11-5 overall and 2-0 in Midwest Conference play while Ripon fell to 7-14 overall and 1-1 in the league.
Lake Forest will host a non-conference match against Dominican University Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.
