The Forester volleyball team defeated Grinnell College in four sets for the second time in a week on Friday in the semifinals of the 2022 Midwest Conference Tournament.
Lake Forest senior Madison Stevens led all players in the contest with 15 kills and a career-high seven blocks on the evening. Juniors Mary Gegen and Grace Franz added 13 kills apiece as the team's setters, sophomore Juli Barrientos and freshman Lilly Robinson, racked up 22 and 13 assists, respectively.
Barrientos also led the Foresters with 16 digs while Robinson and senior libero Izzi Visnjevac each had 13. Visnjevac now ranks sixth in program history with 1,381 career digs and her two aces on Friday moved her into sole possession of 10th place in team annals with 121 over the last four years.
Lake Forest led by as many as five points in the opening set but later trailed by three at 16-13. The score was tied at 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23 before kills by Stevens and Franz gave the Foresters a 25-23 victory.
A 12-11 advantage was Lake Forest's only lead in set two. The Pioneers took the next three points and led the rest of the way. Kills by Stevens and freshman Lilli Evans fought of a pair of set points but Grinnell eventually prevailed 25-21.
Visnjevac and Barrientos served during an 11-1 that gave the Foresters a 16-10 lead in the third set. The Pioneers closed to within three at 19-16 and again at 24-21 before another set-clinching kill by Franz ended it at 25-21.
A four-point run early in set four changed a two-point deficit into a 9-7 lead for the Foresters, who never trailed again. The last tie was at 14-14 and preceded a decisive 6-0 Lake Forest run with Visnjevac serving. Grinnell closed to within two on three separate occasions, the last at 23-21, but back-to-back kills by Gegen finished off the match.
Lake Forest is now 16-12 on the season and will face either Illinois College or league champion and tournament host Cornell College in the final Saturday afternoon at 1:00.
