Lake Forest faced its toughest competition so far this season Wednesday night and fell 25-16, 25-13, 25-13 at Carthage College, the 19th-ranked team in the nation.
Senior Olivia Rhodes led the visitors with seven kills and added six digs, three blocks, and an ace.
The only Forester to reach double figures in a statistical category was freshman libero Izzi Visnjevac, who had a dozen digs.
The loss dropped Lake Forest under the .500 mark at 4-5 on the season while the Lady Reds improved to 8-1.
The Foresters will compete in the Marilyn Scribner Invite at Wheaton College this weekend and will take on Dominican University in their first match Friday night at 6:00. Their opponents on Saturday will be North Central College at noon and Buena Vista University at 2:00 p.m.