The Lake Forest College volleyball team defeated visiting Beloit College 25-14, 25-22, 25-14 Friday night.
After establishing a new season-high with a .233 hitting percentage in Tuesday's triumph over Lawrence University, the Foresters shattered that mark with a .348 clip on Friday.
Leading the home team's attack were sophomore Mary Gegen, junior Madison Stevens, and senior Hannah Kobienia. Gegen finished with 20 kills — one shy of the program's three-set record — and added four blocks and nine digs. Stevens was next on the squad with 11 kills and joined Gegen for three blocks. Kobienia added eight kills and had two blocks. They combined to commit just four attack errors and turned in hitting percentages of .459, .550, and .368, respectively.
Despite the match lasting just three sets, Forester freshman setter Juli Barrientos recorded a season-high 40 assists and added 11 digs. Fellow freshman Rebekkah De Kok matched her dig total while junior Izzi Visnjevac led the team in that category with 13.
Lake Forest won the first nine points of the night and Beloit got no closer than six during the opening set. The margin reached 11 four times, the last on a kill by Stevens that closed out the set.
The Buccaneers jumped out to a 3-0 in set two and were eventually ahead by as many as five. The Foresters trailed 16-12 before rattling off six straight points. After Beloit tied the score at 18, a Gegen kill put Lake Forest back on top and a block by Gegen and Stevens increased the margin to two. The teams traded points until back-to-back kills by Gegen, her eighth and ninth of the set, finished it off.
The Foresters never trailed in the third set and a 9-1 run put them on top 20-9. The score was 23-14 before kills by Stevens and De Kok closed out the contest.
Lake Forest improved to 7-13 overall and 3-1 in Midwest Conference play this season. Beloit is now 5-11 overall and winless in four league matches.
The Foresters will host Cornell College Saturday afternoon at 1:00.
