Forester seniors Brittany Avonts, Paige Jespersen, and Briahna Havis celebrated Senior Night with a 25-15, 25-22, 25-22 victory over visiting Beloit College on Tuesday.
Havis led all players in the match with 19 digs and she added two aces and a career-high eight assists. Avonts had five kills and a pair of blocks on the night while Jespersen pounded out nine kills and reached double figures with 11 digs.
Lake Forest sophomore Grace Larson finished with a match-high 14 kills and six aces and she is the team leader in both categories this season.
Forester junior setter Lexi Kleva tallied 27 assists and was just behind Havis in digs with 17.
With the opening set tied at two, the home team won 10 straight points. After losing serve, the Foresters rattled off six more points in a row to make the score 19-3. Larson, who served up three aces during the second run, eventually closed out the set with her third kill of the night.
Beloit led by as many as three points in set two and was ahead 12-11 before a service error and back-to-back kills by Larson gave the Foresters the lead for good. The margin grew to as many as five points and was never less than two the rest of the way. Larson's fifth kill of the set finished it off. Kleva had eight digs and Havis seven in the set.
The Foresters won the first three points of the third set but eventually fell behind by five at 16-11. Down by four at 19-15, the home team won nine points in a row. Along the way Larson's final ace of the match tied the score and Avonts' third kill in the run put Lake Forest ahead. Havis assisted Jespersen on the winning point of their final career home match.
Lake Forest is now 7-15 overall this year and the the team finished Midwest Conference play with a mark of 3-6. Beloit fell to 9-14 overall and 0-8 in the league.
The Foresters will close out the season at the Benedictine University Eagle Classic on Saturday. They will take on Aurora University at 10:00 a.m. and Wisconsin Lutheran College at 2:00 in the afternoon.
