Lake Forest's 85 digs on Saturday were the team's highest total in a four-set match in nearly four years but the Foresters were defeated 25-20, 18-25, 25-22, 25-19 by visiting Illinois College.
Forester freshman libero Izzi Visnjevac led all players in the match with 25 digs while junior Hannah Nauert and seniors Olivia Rhodes and Allison Trutna finished with 12, 11, and 10, respectively.
After missing the last nine matched due to injury, Lake Forest junior Olivia Smith led the home team with 13 kills while classmate Isabel Donnelly was next with 11. Nauert assisted on 24 while Rhodes set up 20 of the team's 53 kills on the afternoon.
The Foresters fell behind early but remained within five points throughout set one. The margin was just two at 21-19 before the visitors won four of the next five points to take the set.
The only deficit Lake Forest faced in the second set was 10-9 and the home team responded with three points in a row. The score was 15-13 when the Foresters embarked on an 8-1 run to seize control of the set, which they later finished off with a kill by Smith.
Lake Forest battled back several times in set three but never took the lead. The Lady Blues' lead was just one on three separate occasions late in the set, the last at 23-22, before they closed it out with back-to-back points.
Four consecutive points from Illinois College in the middle of the fourth set turned a two-point Forester lead into a 14-12 advantage for the visitors. The Foresters were unable to answer with a run of their own and the Lady Blues pulled away for an eight-point victory in the set and a four-set triumph in the match.
Lake Forest is now 6-9 overall this season while Illinois College improved to 10-3 overall and 2-0 in the conference.
The Foresters will host Wheaton College Wednesday night at 7:00.