Lake Forest Splits Four Forester Invitational Matches

The Foresters were victorious in Katie Rueffer's head coaching debut and finished the two-day Forester Invitational with a record of 2-2.

Lake Forest defeated Illinois Institute of Technology 27-25, 25-13, 17-25, 25-14 Friday evening. Junior Olivia Smith led the home team with 15 kills and 19 digs for her seventh career double-double. Freshman Izzi Visnjevac was next on the squad with 16 digs while junior Hannah Nauert and seniors Allison Trutna and Olivia Rhodes added 13, 13, and 12, respectively. Nauert also lead the home team with 20 assists and junior Olivia Drevs with four blocks.

The Foresters came out on the wrong end of another four-set decision Friday night, falling 17-25, 25-15, 25-21, 25-22 to Saint Mary's College. Junior Isabel Donnelly finished the contest with a team-high 11 kills and the same five players who reached double figures in digs in the team's first match did so again. Visnjevac paced the group with 16 and Nauert once again led the team in assists with 17.

The hosts took on Marian University Saturday morning and, after dropping the opening set 25-17, they took the second 25-16, the third 25-16, and the decisive fourth 25-18. Donnelly pounded out a dozen kills, freshman Haley Bryant finished with 10, and Smith recorded nine without an attack error for a hitting percentage of .474. Nauert tallied 22 assists and Visnjevac's 18 digs were her highest output of the weekend.

Loras College closed out the two-day event by defeating the Foresters 21-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-11. Donnelly led the home team with 11 kills, Nauert with 12 digs, and Rhodes with 15 assists. 

It was the third year in a row the team went 2-2 at the Forester Invitational. Loras was 4-0 and Saint Mary's 3-1 while Illinois Tech and Marian finished with matching marks of 0-3.

Lake Forest will host Illinois Tech again Tuesday night at 7:00.