The Forester volleyball team was defeated 25-20, 25-21, 25-17 at Carroll University Wednesday night. Junior outside hitter Paige Jespersen led the visitors with nine kills and posted a .429 hitting percentage on the night.
Jespersen did not commit an attack error in 21 attempts and contributed to four of the team's 10 blocks in the contest. Junior middle blocker Brittany Avonts led the squad with seven blocks, including a pair of solos, and is now just six shy of the program record set by Nicole Baich in 2006. Freshman setter Mallory Krzysciak led Lake Forest with 14 assists and senoir libero Brianne Honda with 15 digs.
The Foresters trailed 15-14 in the opening set before a six-point run by the Pioneers made their lead much more comfortable. The visitors closed to within four points twice but were unable to complete the comeback.
Lake Forest led by as many as four points early in set two and had a slight 11-10 advantage before another Carroll run, this one seven straight points, gave the Pioneers an advantage their would no relinquish. The Foresters got no closer than three points the rest of the set.
The Foresters' last lead in the third set was 8-7 and it preceded an 8-1 that put the home team ahead for good. The margin was just three points at 17-14 but the Pioneers won eight of the next 11 points to close out the match.
The loss dropped Lake Forest's overall record to 8-16 and evened the Foresters' Midwest Conference mark at 4-4. Carroll improved to 10-12 overall and 6-2 in the league.
The Foresters will host Beloit College this Saturday at 1:00 before closing out the regular season at Ripon College the following Saturday. Lake Forest would need to win both matches and have St. Norbert College drop its final two contests and Ripon its last three to secure a spot in the four-team MWC Tournament.