The Lake Forest College volleyball team won the opening set but was outscored in the next three by visiting St. Norbert College Friday night. Junior Brianne Honda led the Foresters with 21 digs in the contest.
Honda also received 28 serves without an error and added three assists in the match. Sophomore Paige Jespersen and senior Taylor Bradbury were next on the team after Honda with 11 digs apiece and senior Torie Pasiewicz also reached double figures with 10.
Jespersen and sophomore Brittany Avonts led the home team with 11 kills apiece and Avonts added three blocks. Pasiewicz tallied 35 assists and served up the Foresters' only ace of the night.
Lake Forest jumped out to the early lead by winning the first four points of the match. The Green Knights closed to within a point five times in the first set, the last at 22-21. A St. Norbert service error and a kill by Pasiewicz pulled the home team to within a point of taking the set and, after the visitors reached 22, their attack error finished it off. Jespersen had five kills and Honda seven digs in the set.
A 5-0 St. Norbert run early in the second set gave the Green Knights an 8-3 lead. Another five-point run extended their lead and six straight points by the visitors put the score out of reach at 22-9. The teams traded points the rest of the way and it ended at 25-12. Avonts had four of the Foresters' eight kills in the set.
St. Norbert started the third with six points in a row and a 7-0 run later in the set made the score 19-5. The visitors quickly closed it out 25-9 to take a two-sets-to-one advantage.
Lake Forest led set three 10-9 before The Knights won eight of the next 10 points to go ahead by five. The Foresters won the next two points but were unable to string together consecutive points again. St. Norbert eventually finished off the set 25-19 and the match three sets to one.
The loss drops the Foresters' overall record to 11-13 and their Midwest Conference mark to 5-2. St. Norbert is now 12-13 overall and 6-1 in the league.
Lake Forest will continue conference play Saturday afternoon at 1:00. It will be the final career home match for Pasiewicz, Bradbury, and fellow senior Kaitlyn Ladao.
