Junior outside hitter Grace Larson posted a pair of double-doubles as the Lake Forest College volleyball team began the 2017 season with a 25-23, 25-22, 15-25, 26-24 victory over Manchester University and a 26-24, 25-19, 18-25, 18-25, 15-6 loss to Milwaukee School of Engineering on Friday. It was day one of the 2017 Forester Invitational.
Larson finished with a match-high 14 kills and a team-high 17 digs against Manchester. Freshman outside hitter Olivia Smith and senior right-side hitter Natalie Olson were next on the team in kills with seven apiece and freshman outside hitter Olivia Grimmer reached double figures with 13 digs. Senior setter Lexi Kleva tallied 20 assists and Olson paced the home team with five blocks.
Lake Forest led the opening set against Manchester by as many as seven points but six straight points by the visitors made the score 19-18. After the Spartans pulled even at 22 and again at 23, kills by Grimmer and Larson secure the set for the Foresters.
A 6-5 deficit was the only one the home team faced in set two. The score was once again tied late in the set but a kill by Olson and a couple of errors by Manchester gave Lake Forest a two-sets-to-none lead in the match.
The Spartans won the first two points and led throughout the third set. A 5-0 run gave the visitors a 17-9 advantage and they continued to pull away, eventually taking the set by 10 points.
Manchester led 6-3 early in set four before a 6-0 run by the Foresters gave them the three-point lead. After dropping five consecutive points, Lake Forest pulled back ahead by three five more times, the last at 19-16. Manchester tied the score at 21 and eventually took a 24-23 lead. After a timeout, Lake Forest freshman middle blocker Isabel Donnelly tied the score with a kill and finished off the match by combining with senior outside hitter Maxie Mottlowitz on back-to-back blocks.
Larson had a dozen kills against MSOE and her 15 digs made her one of five Foresters to reach double figures in the category. Freshman setter Hannah Nauert led the way with 18, two more than Grimmer. Kleva and sophomore libero Beana Yanovskaya chipped in with 14 and 13, respectively. Nauert led the squad with 15 assists and Donnelly with four blocks.
A 7-0 run by the Foresters turned a one-point deficit into a 9-3 lead in set one. The Raiders tied the score several times but were unable to pull ahead until, trailing 22-19, they won four straight points and seven of nine to close out the set.
The visitors jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the second set but Lake Forest battled back and eventually led by one at 17-16. With the score tied at 19, MSOE rattled off six straight points to finish off the set.
MSOE continued the run by winning the first four points of the third set. The Raiders were ahead by four again at 11-7 before eight straight points by Lake Forest put the home team ahead for good. The lead was at least two the rest of the way and a service error by the visitors gave the Foresters' their 25th point.
Lake Forest pulled ahead by eight early in set four but the Raiders battled back and eventually took an 18-17 lead. The Foresters tied the score and then Nauert served out the set.
MSOE got on a roll in set five. Trailing 5-4, the visitors won five points in a row and followed up a bad serve with six straight points to clinch the match.
Manchester defeated MSOE in four sets in the other match in the main gym on Friday, leaving the Foresters, Raiders, and Spartans with identical 1-1 records. The University of Dubuque defeated Aurora University and Finlandia University, both in three-set contests, and is the only 2-0 team at the event. Aurora won in three sets against Finlandia to join the others at 1-1.
Each team will play two more matches on Saturday. The Foresters will host Aurora University at 10:00 in the morning and Finlandia University at 2:00 p.m.
