The Lake Forest College women's volleyball team split a pair of three-set matches at Elmhurst University Friday night, falling 25-15, 25-18, 25-14 to the hosts and defeating Benedictine 25-17, 25-15, 25-17.
Freshmen
Elise Kelley and
L'Rae White reached double figures in digs against Elmhurst, finishing with 14 and 12, respectively. Kelley also led the visitors in kills with eight while White added a half-dozen.
Elmhurst control early in the opening set by winning 10 of the first 12 points. The decisive part of set two was a 14-4 run by the home team that turned a five-poiunt deficit into a lead of the same size at 18-13. The Bluejays had four different 4-0 runs in the third and final set to propel them to victory.
Freshman
Alivia Barker led Lake Forest and notched her first collegiate double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs against Benedictine.
The Foresters' .385 hitting percentage in the match was easily a season best and ranks seventh in program history. White pounded out a career-high 11 kills and hit at a .588 clip while
Rio Dirksen added eight kills without an error in just 12 attempts for a .667 hitting percentage.
Kelley served up three of Lake Forest's nine aces in the match and
Lilly Robinson tallied 34 assists.
Set one was tied at 10 before the Foresters took 15 of the next 22 points and a 1-0 lead in the match. A Barker kill finished it off. Benedictine took the first four points of the second set and was ahead 7-4 before Lake Forest pulled ahead with eight straight points to begin a 15-3 run. The third set was similar to the second with the Eagles leading by four early and the Foresters taking control with a 15-4 run in the middle. Kills by Dirksen accounted for three of the team's last five points, including the last one.
Lake Forest is now 4-7 on the season while Elmhurst improved to 8-5 and Benedictine fell to 4-12.
The Foresters will travel to Alverno College Tuesday night for a 7:00 match.
