The Lake Forest College volleyball team is hosting the annual Forester Invitational this weekend and dropped a four-set decision to Dominican University in Friday's opener.
Junior transfer Grace Franz led the home team with 11 kills and added 13 digs for a double-double in her Forester debut. Junior Mary Gegen and sophomore Rebekkah De Kok were next on the team with seven kills apiece.
A pair of seniors led the way defensively for Lake Forest. Madison Stevens finished with three blocks while Izzi Visnjevac tallied 19 digs.
Assists were split almost evenly between the team's setters with freshman Lilly Robinson recording 13 and sophomore Juli Barrientos 12.
Dominican won five of the first six points and led throughout set one. The Foresters closed to within one (16-15) on a block by sophomore Riley Stapley but the Stars rattled off eight straight points and took the set 25-16.
After falling behind 5-1 again in the second set, Lake Forest was able to complete the comeback effort, eventually taking the lead for the first time at 18-17 on an ace by Robinson. Dominican pulled back ahead by two at 21-19 and 24-22 but four straight Forester points, including an ace by Visnjevac to tie the score and a kill by Franz for set point, evened the match one one set apiece.
The Foresters led by a couple of points early in set three and later trailed by just one at 12-11. The Stars, however, closed out the set with a 13-4 run, taking it 25-15.
Dominican lead by four early in the fourth and Lake Forest led by as many as three on multiple occasions, the last at 19-16. The visitors regained the lead and were serving for the match at 24-21 before three straight points by Lake Forest tied the score. The Foresters fought off another match point at 25-24 and then had their own shot at set point at 26-25. Dominican regained the lead at 27-26 and finally closed out the set 29-27.
Augustana College, Carroll University, Elmhurst College, Illinois Institutue of Technology, Lakeland University, Mount Mary University, and Trine University are also playing in the Sports and Recreation Center this weekend. The Foresters will take on Mount Mary Saturday morning at 9:00 and Carroll at 1:00 in the afternoon.