The Forester volleyball team was defeated 25-15, 25-16, 25-23 at Grinnell College on Saturday.
Olivia Smith led the visitors with nine kills while freshman Hannah Nauert finished with a team-high 19 assists and two blocks. Sophomore Beana Yanovskaya led Lake Forest in digs with 11.
Grinnell won the first two points of the afternoon and led throughout the opening set. An 11-3 Pioneer run later in the set extended the home team's advantage to 10 points and that was also the margin at the end of the set.
The Foresters took the first two points of the second set and led by two again at 12-10. Grinnell then won nine of the next 10 points to regained the lead. After back-to-back points by Lake Forest, the Pioneers took six of the next seven to close out the set.
Grinnell pulled ahead by eight points in set three but a five-point run by the Foresters pulled them to within three at 19-16. The visitors closed to within two at 20-18 and to within a point at 24-23 before The Pioneers finished off the match.
Lake Forest is now 8-11 overall this season and 1-3 in Midwest Conference play. Grinnell improved to 12-6 overall and 2-3 in the league.
The Foresters will continue their conference schedule with a pair of home matches next weekend. Lake Forest will host St. Norbert College at 7:00 Friday night and Lawrence University the following afternoon at 1:00.
