The Lake Forest College volleyball team finished off a successful weekend with a 26-24, 25-22, 25-21 victory over visiting Knox College on Saturday.
Both teams entered the contest after playing five-set matches the night before. The Foresters had rallied from two sets down to defeat Illinois College while Knox had fallen at Ripon College.
Aside from a 7-3 Prairie Fire lead early on, the teams were separated by no more than three points throughout the opening set. The score was tied at 22, 23, and 24 before a Knox attack error and a block by Forester freshmen Lilly Robinson and Lilli Evans finished off the set.
Set two was tied nine times, the last at 16. Lake Forest won eight of the next 11 points and the home team's final two points came on Knox attack errors.
The final set was also close throughout and featured seven ties, the last at 20. A kill by Evans put the Foresters on top and started a 5-1 match-clinching run that included a pair of kills by junior Grace Franz.
Freshman Holland Smits led a balanced offensive attack for Lake Forest with eight kills while Franz and junior Mary Gegen added seven apiece and Robinson chipped in with six. Robinson edged out sophomore setter Juli Barrientos 16-15 for team-high honors in assists and joined Gegen (13) in double figures for digs with 11. Senior Haley Bryant led the home team with four blocks, one more than Evans and Gegen.
The victory was the fifth in a row and ninth in the last 10 matches for Lake Forest, which is now 13-11 overall and 5-1 in Midwest Conference play this fall. Knox fell to 6-11 overall and 6-1 in the league.
The Foresters will travel to Appleton, Wisconsin, on Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. match at Lawrence University.