Lake Forest College junior setter Lexi Kleva finished with a season-high 45 assists and career-best 20 digs but the Forester volleyball team was defeated 25-17, 19-25, 26-24, 25-22 by visiting Ripon College Friday night.
Kleva came within four assists of her career-high, set last at Macalester College last September. She reached double figures in assists in each of the four sets on Friday and she reached double figures in digs for the seventh time in the last 10 contests.
Sophomore outside hitter Grace Larson led all players in the match with 18 kills and added 15 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. She also served up three aces, raising her team-high total on the year to 28.
Senior middle blocker Brittany Avonts and senior outside hitter Paige Jespersen also reached double figures in kills with 14 and 11, respectively. Avonts committed just one attack error and posted a .406 hitting percentage on the night. Jespersen added a dozen digs and has four double-doubles on the season.
Senior libero Briahna Havis and freshman defensive specialist Anna Denslow chipped in with 11 and 10 digs, respectively.
After falling behind by five early in the opening set, the Foresters pulled to within one at 11-10. Ripon won the next four points, however, and led by at least four the rest of the set. Avonts recorded five kills and Larson four in the set.
Lake Forest led 13-11 in the second set before a kill by Larson and four more points with her serving extended the lead to 18-11. The Red Hawks closed to within two at 19-17 but the home team outscored them 6-2 the rest of the way and evened the match on Larson's seventh kill of the set.
The Foresters led by five points early in set three but a 6-1 Red Hawk run made it 13-13. The score was tied 10 more times in the set and the only two-point edge Ripon had was the final score of 26-24. The teams combined for 61 digs in the set with Kleva leading the way with nine. Jespersen had six of the home team's 15 kills.
Lake Forest fell behind by four early in the fourth set. After coming back to tie the score, the Foresters dropped six of the next seven points and trailed 12-7. Ripon's lead shrunk to a single point three times, the last at 18-17, but the home team was unable to complete the comeback. Lake Forest fought off a pair of match points before the Red Hawks closed it out.
It was the first Midwest Conference match of the season for both teams. The Foresters fell to 4-10 overall while Ripon raised its record to 11-5.
Lake Forest will travel to Knox College on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. contest.
