The Forester volleyball team started play at this weekend's (September 11-12) UW-Oshkosh's Pizza Hut Classic with a 26-24, 14-25, 25-16, 27-25 victory over St. Norbert College. Lake Forest also fell 22-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-17 to Millikin University on Friday and suffered a 25-19, 21-25, 25-20, 25-23 loss to Augustana College and a 25-23, 14-25, 25-14, 25-16 defeat to Lakeland College on Saturday. The Foresters placed sixth at the nine-team event and are now 1-9 overall this season.

Freshman Cori Cooper (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central) led Lake Forest with 13 kills and six aces in the victory over St. Norbert. She also recorded 13 digs and four blocks. Freshman Megan Trubich (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) and junior Mandi Mulliner (Elmhurst, Ill./York) were next on the squad with nine kills apiece. Trubich also led the team with 26 digs and Mulliner with seven blocks. Junior Deena Blanchard (Sparta, Mich./Sparta) tallied 28 assists and added 18 digs. Sophomore Theresa Converse (Warrentown, Va./Notre Dame Academy) and freshman Molly McCloskey (Riverside, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) finished with 25 and 13 digs, respectively.

Trubish pounded out a team-high 10 kills against Millikin and Mulliner added nine without a hitting error in 25 attempts (.360). Blanchard had 23 assists and a team-high 20 digs. Cooper led the squad with four aces and added 16 digs. Converse also had 16 digs and Trubich finished with 10. Mulliner registered another four blocks.

Mulliner and Cooper led the Foresters with 11 kills each against Augustana. Cooper's 25 digs and Mulliner's six blocks were also team-highs. Blanchard had 39 assists. Trubich had 18 digs while McCloskey and Mulliner chipped in with 10 apiece.

Trubich's 12 kills and 18 digs against Lakeland were the team's highest totals. Blanchard recorded 26 assists and 10 digs. McCloskey matched Trubich's 18 digs, Mulliner set a new career-high with 13, and Cooper finished with a dozen.

Mulliner was named to the All-Tournament Team after posting a .264 hitting percentage and leading Lake Forest with 20 blocks on the weekend. Other team-highs included Cooper's 37 kills and 10 aces, Blanchard's 116 assists, and Trubich's 72 digs.

The Foresters will play at the University of Chicago Wednesday night (September 16) at 7:00. The team will then take on Benedictine University at noon and host North Central College at 2:00 p.m. in Saturday's (September 19) Red & Black Triangular.