Sophomore Olivia Smith led Lake Forest with 10 kills in a 24-26, 25-17, 25-14, 25-14 victory over visiting Alverno College Tuesday night.
Smith also tied for the team lead with four kills, matching the total posted by senior libero Emily Witz. Witz finished with 14 digs, extending her season-opening streak of double-figure totals in that category to 10 matches. Additional team-highs included sophomore Hannah Nauert's 21 assists and senior Morgan Malte's five blocks.
The Foresters led the opening set by as many as four points but a 5-0 run by the Inferno gave the visitors a 19-18 advantage. Lake Forest eventually pulled back ahead at 22-21 before three points in a row by the visitors set up set point. After a pair of points for the Foresters tied the score for the 12th time in the set, Alverno earn the next two points to finish it off.
The Lake Forest lead early in set two reached five points but quickly shrunk back down to one at 12-11. Ahead 16-14, the home team won five consecutive points to take control of the set, which was eventually finished off by a kill from junior Olivia Rhodes.
The third set was similar to the second. The Foresters were ahead 16-13 before rattling off seventh straight points and nine out of 10 to finish it off.
The teams traded points in the four set until a pair of attack errors by the Foresters gave Alverno a 7-5 advantage. Lake Forest then recorded another seven-point run to take the lead for good. The Inferno got no closer than four points the rest of the way and the home team closed out the contest with a 7-1 run.
Lake Forest improved to 4-6 on the season while Alverno fell to 1-8.
The Foresters will travel to Benedictine University on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. contest before hosting Dominican University for Parents Day Saturday afternoon at 1:00.
