Junior Mary Gegen was named to the All-Tournament Team for the second year in a row but the Foresters were defeated twice on Saturday at the UW-Oshkosh M.V.P. Invitational.
Gegen racked up a match-high 15 kills in the first match of the day, a 21-25, 25-21, 25-15, 25-14 loss to Lakeland University. She also had a dozen digs for her first double-double of the year and seventh of her career. Junior Grace Franz added 10 kills and senior Izzi Visnjevac matched Gegen's digs total.
Freshman Lilly Robinson led the Foresters with 18 assists, sophomore Juli Barrientos with four aces, and senior Haley Bryant with three blocks.
Lake Forest used a 7-0 run early in the opening set and a four-point run later on to pull ahead by five. Lakeland got no closer than three the rest of the way an d a kill by Franz finished it off. Set two was close throughout but the Foresters never led and the Muskies converted on their second chance at set point. Lakeland closed out the third set with five consecutive points and started the fourth with a 14-2 run before cruising to victory.
Visnjevac led Lake Forest with 13 digs and Barrientos added 11 against Bethel. Sophomore Rebekkah De Kok had a team-high six kills while Robinson and Barrientos shared the honors with 10 assists apiece.
A 5-0 run by the Foresters gave them a 10-9 lead in the opening set. The Royals, however, won 16 of the next 21 points and the set. The second set story was similar with Bethel taking 17 of the last 21 points. Set three was tied at 19 before Bethel closed it out with a 6-2 run.
Lake Forest fell to 2-6 on the season and will be in action again at North Central College Tuesday night at 7:00.