Eureka Strikes First in Four-Set Loss at Lake Forest

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Eureka volleyball team came out strong and took the first set at Lake Forest on Wednesday, but the Foresters came back and won the last three sets.

The final scores were 25-21, 22-25, 17-25, 16-25.

Eureka's Madison Richards (Princeton, Ill./Princeton) racked up a season-high eight kills while hitting a team-best .368. The sophomore also had a pair of service aces and a block assist to finish with 10.5 points, tying with Halle Gauna (Arcola, Ill./Arcola/Lincoln Trail College) for a team high on the night.

Gauna notched seven kills, two aces, a solo block and a block assist. Alexis Charlton (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) and Brittney Mekelburg (Johnstown, Colo./Roosevelt/St. Andrews University) each had six kills.

Hope McGinnes (Mackinaw, Ill./Deer Creek-Mackinaw/Lincoln) and Emma Sandlin (Greentown, Ind./East/Missouri Baptist) distributed 14 and 13 assists, respectively.

Libero Jurnee Flournoy (Decatur, Ill./Decatur MacArthur) led the team with 15 digs on a night that four Red Devils finished with double-digit digs. McGinnes and Sandlin each had 14, while Charlton came up with 12.

The Red Devils hit .200 in the first set of the day, tallying 13 kills and six errors on 35 swings to Lake Forest's 12 kills and eight errors on 40 swings.

Eureka used a 7-1 run to take an eight-point advantage at 22-14. Lake Forest came back and scored five straight to cut the lead in half, but the Red Devils held them off from there, with Gauna putting down the final kill.

The Foresters led by as many as seven in the second set, but the maroon and gold rallied down the stretch to make it come down to the last points. Eureka went on a 7-1 run that included fending off four set points before Lake Forest finally ended it to even the match.

Lake Forest then hit its stride midway through both the third and fourth set to complete it. Holland Smits and Mary Gegen put down 16 and 12 kills, respectively, for the home team.

Eureka (3-15, 2-10 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) will return to league play with a home match against Spalding on Friday 7 p.m. The Red Devils will be celebrating Senior Night.