Senior outside hitter Grace Larson was named to the all-tournament team as Lake Forest College posted a 2-2 record at the Forester Invitational over the weekend.
Larson started the season with a double-double, tying for the team lead with 14 digs and pacing the squad with 16 kills in a 25-19, 25-14, 25-12 victory over St. John Fisher College on Friday. She committed just three attack errors in the contest and finished with a .394 hitting percentage. Forester senior libero Emily Witz matched Larson's 14 digs while sophomore setter Hannah Nauert led the home team with a dozen assists, junior setter/right side hitter Olivia Rhodes with six aces, and senior middle blocker Morgan Malte with four blocks.
The Foresters' second match on Friday was stopped in the fourth set due to court conditions and continued Saturday morning. Loras College eventually took the contest 23-25, 25-19, 25-19, 19-25, 15-11, despite a match-high 19 kills and 22 digs from Larson. Witz and junior defensive specialist Allison Trutna also reached double figures with 15 and 12 digs, respectively, and Rhodes edged out Nauert 17-15 in assists. Sophomore Olivia Smith was next on the team after Larson with six kills and sophomore middle blocker Isabel Donnelly added three blocks.
Lake Forest's next match also went to a fifth set and the outcome was the same for the home team. Carroll University came out on top of a 25-14, 21-25, 23-25, 25-13, 15-13 decision but could not stop Larson from registering her third double-double of the weekend, a 15-kill, 12-dig performance. Nauert tied with sophomore setter Allyson Richards for team-high honors with 15 assists and led the squad with 14 digs. Nauert also served up a pair of aces in the match, as did Witz, who also tallied 13 digs. Rhodes turned in the host's second-highest kill total with six.
The Foresters closed out the weekend with a 25-1, 25-23, 25-15 won over Manchester University. Smith and Larson pounded out 10 kills apiece, Witz had three aces and 18 digs, and Rhodes recorded 13 assists, two more than Nauert.
Larson led the Foresters on the weekend with 60 kills and Witz matched that team-high total in digs. Rhodes has seven aces and Donnelly seven blocks while Nauert leads the way in assists with 53.
Loras finished the event with a 4-0 record while Carroll and Milwaukee School of Engineering were each 3-1. Neither Manchester nor St. John Fisher was unable to earn its first victory of the year.
The 2-2 Foresters will travel to Elmhurst College Tuesday night for a 7:00 contest.
