After dropping the first set 25-23, the Lake Forest College volleyball team took the next three 25-20, 25-17, 25-15 in Saturday's Midwest Conference victory over visiting Ripon College.
L'Rae White pounded out a match-high 19 kills, the most by a Forester this season, and posted a .515 hitting percentage on the day. She also served up two aces and tied her season high with 13 digs for her second double-double of the year.
Fellow freshmen
Alivia Barker and
Elise Kelley also reached double figures with 16 and 12 kills, respectively, and Barker led the team with three aces. Lake Forest's 60 kills were the team's highest total in a match in more than three years.
Forester setter
Lilly Robinson racked up 33 assists in the final three sets after
Meghan Winston had nine in the first. Robinson also matched White's 13 digs while
Alisa Kevric led the squad with 15.
The opening set featured 15 ties and eight lead changes. White had six kills in the set and Barker's fourth put the home team on top 23-22. The Red Hawks took the next three points, however, to win the set.
The Foresters jumped out to a 3-0 lead and were ahead throughout set two. The margin grew to six on multiple occasions and White's 10th kill of the day finished off the set.
Lake Forest led 10-8 in the third set before extending that advantage with a 10-4 run. Ripon got no closer than six the rest of the way and a Barker kill gave thee home team a two-sets-to-one lead.
The fourth set was like the second with the Foresters taking the first four points and never relinquishing the lead. A kill by White made it a 10-points lead at 21-11 and that was the final margin after a match-ending kill from Kelley.
The victory evened the Foresters' overall record at 9-9 and they improved to 2-1 in MWC play. Ripon fell to 6-14 overall and 1-3 in the league.
Lake Forest will play a pair of conference matches on the road next weekend, invading Illinois College Friday night at 7:00 and Knox College at 1:00 the following afternoon.
