The Lake Forest College women's volleyball team played at home for the first time in 2026 Wednesday night and defeated Concordia University 25-17, 25-23, 25-18.
As she did in each of the first five matches of her collegiate career,
Elise Kelley led the Foresters in kills. She pounded out 10 and posted a .381 hitting percentage on Wednesday while adding a pair of aces and 20 digs for her third double-double of the young season.
Rio Dirksen was next on the team with nine kills while
Alivia Barker finished with eight with just one error in 14 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage.
Lilly Robinson accounted for 29 of the team's 32 assists and other team highs included
Simisola Osinaike's three blocks and
Chloe Kussow's 11 digs.
The opening set was close until a four-point run for the Foresters put them on top 21-14. Kills by Dirksen and
L'Rae White eventually finished it off.
After falling behind 12-4, the home team needed a significant comeback to take set two. Four straight points cut the deficit in half but the Foresters found themselves down by five at 19-14 just a few minutes later. a 5-1 run shrunk the margin to a single point and Lake Forest eventually tied the score at 22. After the Cougars regained the lead, back-to-back kills by Barker and an ace from
Rylie Almoradie secured the set for the Foresters.
After dropping the first two points of the third set, Lake Forest won nine in a row and 13 of 14 to take a 10-point lead. Concordia Chicago eventually closed to within four at 18-14 but got no closer. A kill by Robinson closed out the match.
The victory was the first of the season for the Foresters while Concordia Chicago fell to 4-3.
Lake Forest will host the four-team Forester Invitational this weekend. Friday night's opponent will by Illinois Institute of Technology and the Foresters will take on Alverno College and Eureka College on Saturday.
