Seniors Morgen Malte, Emily Witz, Grace Larson, and Annika Daley combined for 23 kills, 37 digs, four aces, and a block as the Lake Forest College volleyball team defeated visiting Ripon College 25-20, 25-22, 25-23 Friday night.
Larson led all players in the contest with 15 kills and she added 13 digs for her 35th career double-double. She finished her four seasons on the team with 973 kills and 977 digs and added 105 aces and 92 blocks.
Witz tallied a match-high 19 digs on the night, reaching double figures for the 24th time in the Foresters' 27 contests this year.
Malte was second on the team in kills with eight and Daley matched her season-high with five digs.
The Foresters never trailed in the opening set, although the Red Hawks pulled to within a point several times, the last at 15-14. Lake Forest won eight of the next 10 points to pull away and a kill by Malte on the home team's second chance at set point closed it out.
Set two was close throughout, with neither team leading by more than two points until late. The Red Hawks were ahead 18-17 before a four-point run by the Foresters gave them the lead for good. Ripon took two straight points to pull to within 24-22 before a kill by Lake Forest sophomore Olivia Smith finished off the set.
The third set was just as close as the second and included 14 ties. With the visitors leading 23-21 and threatening to send the match to a fourth set, Lake Forest won four straight points, the last on a kill by sophomore Olivia Drevs, to secure the victory.
It was the second consecutive season-ending victory over Ripon for Lake Forest, which finished 12-15 overall and posted a winning record (5-4) in Midwest Conference play for the first time since 2014. The Red Hawks fell to 9-17 overall and 3-5 in the league.
