The Lake Forest College volleyball team won a five-set thriller Saturday afternoon against visiting Lawrence University in a battle between two contenders for spots in the four-team Midwest Conference Tournament. Senior setter Torie Pasiewicz finished with a season-high 53 assists in the final home match of her career.
The assist total was the second-highest in Pasiewicz's career, trailing only the 59 she tallied at Monmouth College in 2012. She also added 14 digs, two aces, and four kills on Saturday.
Four Foresters reached double figures in kills. Junior Erin Sully and sophomore Paige Jespersen led the squad with 15 apiece and they also had 16 and 13 digs, respectively, to become the first Lake Forest teammates this season to reach double figures in both categories in the same match. Junior Bailey Everhart finished with 14 kills and sophomore Brittany Avonts 13.
Junior Brianne Honda led the Foresters with 19 digs and did not allow an ace in the 28 serves she received. Avonts had a team-high four blocks and freshman Rebecca Lynch added three.
Lake Forest won the first three points of the match but lost the next five. The home team led 12-10 later in the opening set before a 7-0 Viking run gave Lawrence the lead for good. The Foresters closed to within a point at 18-17 but were unable to come back again. The Vikings took the set 25-21.
Sully started the second set with a kill and Lake Forest was ahead the rest of the way. The Forester lead grew to as many as eight points at 20-12 and 21-13 but the visitors won eight of the next nine points to make the score 22-21. The teams alternated the next five points with a kill by Jespersen closing out the 25-23 set win. Pasiewicz recorded 14 assists and Jespersen had six kills and five digs in the set.
Lake Forest won the third set by the same score as the second. The home team led by as many as five points early on but eventually trailed 14-11. The scored was tied at every point from 15 to 23 before a pair of attack errors downed the Vikings. Pasiewicz added 14 more assists and Everhart led the Foresters with six kills and Honda with eight digs in the set.
The Vikings jumped out the a 14-3 lead the fourth set and the final margin was also 11 points at 25-14.
After falling behind 3-2 in the fifth and deciding set, the Foresters rattled off seven straight points to take a 9-2 lead. At 14-9, Lake Forest was just one point away from taking the match but Lawrence won the next five to tie the score at 14. A kill by Jespersen and a block by Lynch, however, gave Lake Forest the much-needed victory.
The Foresters are now 12-13 overall this season and 6-2 in MWC play. Lawrence fell to 9-16 overall and 5-4 in the league.
Lake Forest will close out the regular season with a pair of road matches this week. The Foresters will travel to Carroll University Tuesday night for a 7:30 p.m. start and will finish up at Ripon College Friday at 7:00 p.m.
