The Forester volleyball team defeated visiting Illinois Institute of Technology 25-21 in the first set and 25-19 in each of the next two Friday night.

Lake Forest trailed 15-12 in the opening set before rattling off eight straight points on senior Grace Franz's serve. The run included two of her three aces on the night. The home team led by as least three the rest of the way to take a one-set lead.

The Foresters were behind by three again early in set two but won 13 of 16 points to take a 21-14 lead. A kill by junior Rebekkah De Kok eventually finished it off.

The home team opened up a six-point lead in set three but five consecutive Scarlet Hawk points made the score 14-13. The Foresters responded with a five-point run of their own and the margin was six again when a kill by Franz closed out the contest.

Junior setter Juli Barrientos led Lake Forest with 13 assists and nine digs while senior Mary Gegen pounded out a match-high nine kills. Sophomore libero Julia Turskey matched Franz with three aces and classmate Lilly Robinson was just one shy of Barrientos with a dozen assists.

The Foresters improved to 6-2 on the young season, the team's best start since the 2000 squad began 9-2. Illinois Tech fell to 2-11.

Lake Forest will be back in action with two more home matches on Saturday. The Foresters will celebrate Family Weekend and Parents Day by taking on Dominican University at 11:00 a.m. and the University of Dubuque at 3:00 p.m.