The Lake Forest College volleyball team defeated visiting St. Norbert College 21-25, 23-25, 25-14, 25-21, 15-7 on Saturday to even its Midwest Conference record at 2-2. Freshman outside hitter Grace Larson's 21 kills were the most by a Forester this season.
Larson also recorded two aces, three blocks, and 16 digs for her second double-double of the weekend. Junior outside hitter Maxie Mottlowitz was next on the team and also recorded a season-high with 10 kills.
The Foresters had 16 blocks on the afternoon, including 10 by junior middle blocker Brittany Avonts, who leads the conference in that category.
Senior libero Brianne Honda led Lake Forest with 20 digs while junior defensive specialist Briahna Havis matched Larson with 16. Havis also served up a team-high three aces.
Sophomore setters Lexi Kleva and Tori Tinman tallied 24 and 21 assists, respectively.
The Foresters had an 11-9 lead in the opening set before five straight points by the Green Knights gave the visitors the advantage. Lake Forest closed to within one at 15-14 and trailed by just two at 21-19 but St. Norbert won four of the next six points and the set.
Lake Forest led 10-9 in set two before the Knights rattled off seven points in a row. Trailing 19-12, the Foresters won 11 of 14 points to take a 23-22 lead. St. Norbert, however, won the next three points to take the set.
After dropping the first two points in the third set, Lake Forest won the next eight and eventually extended the lead to 14 at 20-6. The Green Knights' five-point run closed the gap a little but the home team was able to take the set and extend the match.
Set four was tied 13 times, the last at 17-17. A 5-0 Forester run gave the home team the lead for good and Larson's 17th kill of the day closed it out.
Leading 3-2, Lake Forest won seven straight points to take control in set five. The visitors closed to within six at 11-5 but got no closer. Larson had four kills and Mottlowitz three in the set. A kill by junior outside hitter Paige Jespersen finished off the comeback victory.
Lake Forest is now 5-13 overall and 2-2 in conference play this season. St. Norbert fell to 7-12 overall and 3-2 in the league.
The Foresters will play their final non-conference match of the regular season at Marian University next Wednesday night. The contest will begin at 7:00 p.m.
