Volleyball

MILWAUKEE – The Mount Mary College volleyball team hosted Lake Forest College Tuesday in a matchup of very solid defenses, but it was the Forester offense that proved the difference maker as they handled host Mount Mary 25-21, 25-14, 24-26, 25-17.

Lake Forest brought their army of volleyball athletes, with 12 different players seeing court time throughout the four-set match. And while the Blue Angels' scrappy seven worked hard to stay in the match on the defensive side, the Foresters eventually pulled away to take the road win.

"We knew we were facing a challenging team when Lake Forest visited," head coach Kelsey Peterson said. "We prepared as much as possible and really worked on our defense. Despite losing, I was really proud of how the team fought and kept up the intensity the entire time. We dug a lot of balls that typically in the past we probably wouldn't have, so I consider that a measure of success."

The outside hitting tandem of junior Stehpanie Hardwick (West Allis, Wis.) and Sarah Wishau (Racine, Wis.) tallied 11 kills apiece and 18 and 17 digs respectively, while senior setter Chelsie Beeler added 27 assists. The Blue Angels were outhit efficiency-wise .215 to .131, as the Foresters tallied 12 more kills and digs than Mount Mary.

Despite facing an early 9-15 deficit in the first set, the Blue Angels rallied to overtake the Foresters 20-19. But an ensuing pair of MMC service errors accompanied by Forester kills eventually swung the momentum back in favor of the visitors, 25-21.

Set two was not pretty for Blue Angel fans, as Lake Forest was in-system and hit a blistering .407 in the second stanza alone. Yet Mount Mary showed some grit in the third set, keeping the score close throughout. Three kills from Lake Forest and a bad set from Mount Mary turned a three point lead into a 23-24 deficit before Mount Mary finally put the set away on a pair of LFC hitting errors and a service ace from Hardwick to avoid the sweep.

Things started out well for Mount Mary again in the fourth set as they held an early 12-10 lead. But the ornery Foresters roared back reeling off 10 of the next 11 points to take full control, eventually putting away Mount Mary 25-17 to seal the match.

Mount Mary continues its brief home stand Friday as it hosts Northland International University for a 7:30 p.m. start time. After the night match against the Pioneers, the Blue Angels will head downtown to take on Beloit College and Lake Forest in a rematch at the MSOE Invite Saturday afternoon.