By: A loud home crowd helped the Foresters beat the Lady Blues by the minimum of two points in two out of the three sets on Friday night.
Box Score
LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The postseason aspirations of the Illinois College volleyball team ended on Friday night in a three-set defeat (23-25, 20-25, 25-27) at the hands of Lake Forest College. The loss sends IC to 10-14 (3-5 Midwest Conference), with the Foresters improving their record to 10-13 (2-4 MWC).
The Lady Blues hit at a rate of .294 in the first set, but went downhill after that.
Rebecca Shields accounted for five of Illinois College's 15 kills in the set, and IC would lead by four points early on, however Lake Forest picked it up as the set went along. The final kill of the first set for Illinois College came from
Maddie Ramsey to tie the score at 21-21. After that, the only two IC points came on Lake Forest attack errors, while the Foresters benefitted from an attack error from the Lady Blues and had three kills to take a 1-0 lead.
Despite a 5-0 start to the second set from Lake Forest, Illinois College recovered to go on top, 7-6, after consecutive attack errors from Hannah Hornacek. With the score tied at 9-9, the Foresters again reeled off five straight points and this time IC wouldn't have an answer. The Lady Blues could get no closer than three points the rest of the way and two kills from Olivia Smith ended the set to give Lake Forest a 2-0 lead.
Though Illinois College committed 12 attack errors in the third set, the Lady Blues very nearly forced the match into a fourth set. Ramsey had six of her team-high 11 kills in the third set and IC was two points away from the win before Lake Forest rallied. The Lady Blues took the lead in the early going with
Cheyanne Jockisch on serve, and held the advantage until a five-point spurt from the Foresters put them ahead, 19-16. Consecutive errors from Lake Forest opened the door for IC to rattle off five in a row and take a 21-19 edge. From there, the teams traded side-outs until the score was 23-21 in favor of the Lady Blues. A kill and two blocks by the Foresters brought them back and earned a match point. Though the Lady Blues were able to fight off the first two chances LFC had to close it out, the Foresters were successful on the third try thanks to a Hornacek kill.
Ramsey was the lone Illinois College player to end in double-digits for kills on the night.
Ali Pankey ended with nine kills and 10 digs. Shields had six kills on the night and
MacKenzie Heinz chipped in with five.
Elizabeth Ganley led the Lady Blues in assists and digs, ending with 35 helpers and 13 digs.
Madie Budd added 12 digs as well.
MWC play comes to a close for Illinois College tomorrow with a 1 p.m. match at Beloit College.
