The Lake Forest College volleyball team defeated Marian University 25-20, 23-25, 25-20, 25-20 in its home opener Wednesday night. Sophomore Paige Jespersen matched one career-high with 14 digs and established another with a match-high 19 kills.
Jespersen also had two aces and a block and successfully received 18 of 19 serves on the night.
Sophomore Brittany Avonts was next on the team with 15 kills and she added four blocks.
Senior setter Torie Pasiewicz's 33 assists were just two shy of her season-high and she served up three aces and tied with junoir Brianne Honda for the team lead with 20 digs. Honda chipped in with a pair of aces and committed just one receiving error in 30 attempts.
Lake Forest never trailed in the opening set and led by as many as nine. Marian won four straight points late in the set to cut the Forester lead to 23-20 but a kill by Jespersen and an attack error by the Sabres finished it off. Avonts had six kills in just seven attempts in the set.
The home team led by as many as seven points in the second set and was ahead 20-15 when the Sabres began a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the night. The teams traded points until the visitors came away with a 25-23 set win. Avonts led Lake Forest with four kills and three blocks in the set.
Marian also won the first two points of the third set before the Foresters took seven of the next eight. The Sabres tied the score at seven and it was tied again at eight before four straight point by Lake Forest put the home team ahead for good. The visitors closed to within two points at 20-18 but the Foresters won five of seven points, including two on kills by Jespersen, down the stretch to take a two-sets-to-one lead. Pasiewicz and Honda combined for a dozen digs in the set.
A 9-2 Forester run in the middle of the fourth set turned a one-point deficit into a 21-15 lead. Lake Forest scored its final point of the night on a kill by junior Bailey Everhart. Pasiweicz tallied 10 assists and Honda had eight digs in the fourth set.
The Foresters are now 6-10 overall and Marian fell to 4-9 this season.
Lake Forest will also host Trinity International University Friday night at 7:00.