The Forester volleyball team hosted and defeated Grinnell College in four sets on Saturday to clinch a spot in the four-team Midwest Conference Tournament.

Lake Forest took the opening set 25-18, thanks in part to a six-point run that began with the home team nursing an 11-10 lead. 

The Foresters trailed 23-20 in set two but rallied to take it 27-25. The Pioneers led 25-24 before kills by seniors Mary Gegen and Grace Franz and freshman Mia Atkins gave Lake Forest a two-set advantage.

Grinnell trailed 9-8 in set three before winning 15 of the next 19 points and eventually taking it 25-16.

Lake Forest pulled away in set four and led 24-16 before Grinnell fought off five consecutive Forester match point opportunities. Franz finally finished off the contest with her 19th kill of the afternoon.

Franz also had 11 digs on the day and the double-double was her second of the weekend and ninth this season. Gegen is just behind her for the year after registering a dozen kills and 13 digs and adding a career-high-tying five blocks on Saturday.

Freshman Mia Atkins also matched her career high in bocks with seven and she added a career-high-tying seven kills.

Junior Juli Barrientos tallied a season-high 23 assists while sophomore Lilly Robinson finished with 19. Both setters also reached doubles figures in digs with 12 and 10, respectively, and Robinson served up five more aces to continue leading the league in that category.

The Foresters' leader in digs in the match was junior Lauren Volk with 17.

The victory improved Lake Forest's overall record to 16-6 and the team finished 6-2 in Midwest Conference play. Grinnell fell to 12-15 overall and 4-2 in the league.

The Foresters will likely be the #3 seed in the 2023 MWC Tournament, which will be played November 10-11. The team will play a non-conference match at Wheaton College Tuesday night at 7:00 before closing out the regular season against visiting Wisconsin Lutheran College next Saturday at noon.