Eureka Comeback Push Falls Short Against Lake Forest, 3-0

EUREKA – The Eureka volleyball team dropped a non-conference challenge against Lake Forest in three sets at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena and Convocation Center on Tuesday.

The Red Devils started slow in the first set, but they bounced back and made the last two sets competitive. The final scores were 25-12, 25-22, 25-21.

Eureka's Alexis Charlton (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) finished with a team-high six kills while hitting a team-best .208. Frannie Heckman (Benson, Ill./Roanoke-Benson) and Brooklyn Shell (Evansville, Ind./Mount Vernon) added three and three kills, respectively.

Regan Reed (Flanagan, Ill./Flanagan-Cornell) posted a team-high 11 digs and contributed a pair of service aces.

On the other side of the net, Madison Stevens notched a match-high seven kills. Grace Franz and Lilli Evans had six and five kills, respectively. Juli Barrientos registered 13 assists.

Izzi Visnjevac and Mary Gregen combined for 25 digs of Lake Forest's 50 digs.

The second set was EC's best chance to change the match. The Red Devils came back from down three points to tie the match at 16, and used a 9-4 to take a three-point lead at 22-19. However, the Foresters claimed the next four points to regain the lead at 23-22.

In the third set, the home team cut a nine-point lead to seven with a late 7-0 run that made it 22-20. This time, though, the run came to an end with a missed serve and the visitors put down two kills on the last three points of the match.

Eureka (7-16, 2-9 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) will turn around and host Grinnell (15-6, 6-0 Midwest Conference) on Wednesday at  5 p.m.