Alverno College

MILWAUKEE – The Alverno Volleyball team hosted non-conference Lake Forest on Tuesday evening inside the Reiman Gymnasium, the Inferno fought closely in the first set and took the third set but it was not enough as the Foresters won the match in four sets.
 
The Inferno were led by sophomore Rolin West, who tallied 16 kills on the night to go along with 17 digs for her 11th double-double of the season. Her 16 kills is the most in a match since the October opener at home against Benedictine, when she collected 17. Senior Alex McMath also had a double-double with 10 kills, while also leading the team with 19 assists on the evening.
 
Junior Selena Upshur led the team in hitting percentage at a .278 clip, while tallying five kills and adding a pair of blocks, while freshman Natalie Onozie also collected five kills and registered a pair of blocks and four digs. Sophomore Izzy Gianniou added the final of Alverno's 37 kills, and also had her third highest assist total of the year with 11 helpers on the night.
 
Tied for the team lead with 17 digs was freshman Breann Flannery, who also had two assists. Classmate Jalea Taylor had a team-best three blocks on the night including two solo blocks, while fellow freshman Lynnica Harley had a pair of blocks as well. Freshman Sharisty Kooch rounded chipped in with one ace on offense, while helping the stout defensive effort with 11 digs.
 
The first set was even through the first dozen points before Alverno rolled off four unanswered points on kills by West and McMath. Another 4-0 run later in the stanza extended Alverno's lead to 15-10 on kills by Upshur and West, along with an ace by McMath. The Inferno had set point at 24-18, but the Foresters responded a 9-1 rally to emerge victorious in the opener, 27-25.
 
The opening eight points of the second set were evenly split to open the session, before four unanswered by Lake Forest. The Inferno were able to trim the lead to one at 9-8, but a burst by the Foresters put the set out of reach at 20-12, before Lake Forest closed out the set on a 5-1 run to win the second, 25-14.
 
After trailing early at 8-5 in the third set, the Inferno collected three-straight points sparked by a kill by Gianniou. Alverno tied the match at 10 before scoring seven of the next 10 points to open a 16-12 advantage. Lake Forest trimmed the margin to two on several occasions before a trio of Forester errors late in the set synched the set win for the Inferno at 25-21.
 
Lake Forest opened the fourth set with an 8-3 lead, with the advantage swelling to 11 at 19-8. Despite scoring three points in a four-point stretch, the Inferno dropped the final three points of the set as Lake Forest won going away, 25-12.
 
Alverno (4-14) continues its homestand tomorrow with another 7 pm start against Mount Mary inside the Reiman Gymnasium.