The Forester volleyball team completed its 2009 schedule with four-set victories over visiting Lawrence University (25-19, 22-25, 25-20, 25-14) and Wisconsin Lutheran College (25-15, 28-30, 25-18, 25-19). Lake Forest finished with a 9-18 overall record and 5-4 mark in Midwest Conference play.

The Foresters trailed 11-10 in set one against Lawrence before using an 8-1 run to pull away and splitting the final 14 points of the set. Junior Mandi Mulliner (Elmhurst, Ill./York) had three kills, an ace, and a solo block and freshman Cori Cooper (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central) tallied six digs in the set.

Set two was tied at every point from eight to 22 before the Vikings scored the final three to take it. Cooper pounded out six kills and Mulliner had three and another ace in the set. Junior Deena Blanchard (Sparta, Mich./Sparta) dished out 10 assists.

Lake Forest took the third set, which was tied 18-18, by closing it out on a 7-2 run. Blanchard had 11 more assists, Mulliner recorded six kills, and three other Foresters chipped in with three kills apiece.

The home team scored the first two points and led throughout set four. The advantage reached 11 points (18-7) after a 6-0 Forester run and the teams split the final 14 points of the match. Cooper's six kills, Blanchard's 13 assists, and freshman Megan Trubich's (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) nine digs in the set led the squad.

Cooper finished with a match-high 17 kills and added 18 digs. Mulliner was next with 14 kills. Blanchard had 40 assists, more than in any previous four-set match this season. Trubich led the squad with 19 digs.

Lake Forest jumped out to an 8-1 advantage in the first set against Wisconsin Lutheran and led by no less than five points the rest of the way. Cooper and fellow freshman Molly McCloskey (Riverside, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) had five and four kills, respectively, in the set and Trubich recorded six digs.

Neither team led by more than three points during set two. The Foresters fended off three consecutive set points to tie the score at 24 but eventually fell 30-28. Cooper had six more kills and Mulliner five. McCloskey tallied 10 digs and Trubich added eight. Blanchard passed out 11 assists.

After surrendering the first point of set three, Lake Forest scored five in a row and never trailed again. The margin reached as many as nine points (18-9) and McCloskey closed it out with a kill, her third of the set. Cooper pounded out eight kills in the set and Blanchard had 15 assists.

The Foresters trailed 4-1 in set four before scoring five straight points to take the lead. Wisconsin Lutheran battled back and eventually pulled ahead 19-16 before the home team closed out the season with nine consecutive points to win the match. Mulliner had six kills and Trubich six digs in the final set.

Cooper's 23 kills led all players in the contest and surpassed her previous career-high of 17 set Wednesday (October 28) at Carroll University and tied earlier in the day against Lawrence. She also had 14 digs and four blocks. Mulliner was next with 15 kills and McCloskey had a dozen. Mulliner also led the team with five blocks and McCloskey chipped in with 17 digs and a pair of aces. Trubich paced the squad with 24 digs and Blanchard had 10 to go along with 43 assists, her highest four-set total of the season.

Cooper also led the Foresters with 301 kills and 44 aces in 2009. Other team-highs included Blanchard's 778 assists, Trubich's 436 digs, and Mulliner's 73 blocks.

Megan Fasules (Little Rock, Ark./Pulaski Academy), Lake Forest's only senior, recorded eight kills and four blocks on the day and was honored before the match against Wisconsin Lutheran. It was also Parents Day and the Forester parents were introduced between the first two sets against Lawrence.