The Lake Forest College volleyball team was defeated 25-20, 25-16, 17-25, 25-17 by Lawrence University at home Friday night. Forester senior right side hitter Bailey Everhart tied for the team lead with 11 kills and posted a season-best .417 hitting percentage in the contest.
After recording just four kills during the first three sets combined, Everhart tallied seven in just nine attempts in the fourth. She had just one attack error in 24 attempts on the night.
Matching Everhart's kill total was junior middle blocker Brittany Avonts, who added three blocks and a pair of aces in the match. Freshman outside hitter Grace Larson also reached double figures with 10 kills and added 21 digs, more than twice her previous season best. Senior libero Brianne Honda tallied 24 digs in the contest, tying her career high, and chipped in with three aces. Sophomore setter Lexi Kleva led the team with 21 assists.
Lake Forest led by as many as six points in the opening set but an 8-2 run by the Vikings tied the score at 17. Both teams had 19 points when the visitors began a 5-0 run and they finished it off on their second attempt at set point.
The second set was tied at eight before Lawrence won eight of the next nine points to take control. The lead reached as many as 10 points late in the set.
The Foresters jumped out to the early lead in set three and the margin grew to as many as 10 points. Avonts had six kills and an ace in the set and Larson's third kill of the set finished it off.
After falling behind by as many as four points early in the fourth set, the Foresters came back and took a 10-9 lead. Trailing 16-13, the home team battled back again and knotted the score at 17. Th Vikings, however, rattled off eight straight points to secure the victory.
Lake Forest is now 4-13 overall this season and 1-2 in Midwest Conference play. Lawrence improved to 3-16 overall and 2-2 in the league.
The Foresters will be back in action Saturday afternoon against visiting St. Norbert College. The match will begin at 1:00 p.m.
