Lake Forest College Sports Information
October 27, 2006
Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID

Lake Forest Drops Five-Game Decision at Illinois College
Nicole Baich breaks a pair of single-season records


Nicole Baich
Jacksonville, Ill. - The Forester volleyball team closed out the regular season with a 28-30, 25-30, 30-28, 30-28, 15-9 loss at Illinois College Friday (October 27) night. Lake Forest fell to 14-14 overall and 6-3 in Midwest Conference play. The Lady Blues are now 15-17 overall and also 6-3 in the league.

Junior Nicole Baich (Westchester, Ill./Nazareth Academy) led all players in the match with 21 kills. Her seven blocks, including two solos, gave her a single-season school record 130 total blocks and 62 solos this year. She also leads the squad with 378 kills on the season.

Sophomore Ashley Cretacci (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) and junior Merissa Martin (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills) each recorded a career-high with 17 and 16 kills, respectively, and senior Kendra Casey (Wauwatosa, Wis./Wauwatosa West) tallied a career-high 60 assists. Cretacci added four blocks while Martin and Casey chipped in with 14 and 10 digs, respectively. Senior Janelle Balcerzak (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) had 10 kills and four aces after missing nearly three matches due to injury.

Sophomore Lisa Sturgill (Sheboygan, Wis./Sheboygan South) registered 38 digs in the contest and now has 628 on the year, the second-highest total in team history. She trails the single-season school record by just 40. Freshmen Nicole Leonard (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Chaminade College Prep.) and Lindsey Grauman (St. Paul, Minn./Visitation) added 19 digs apiece, a career-high for Leonard.

The Foresters’ next match will be at the Midwest Conference Tournament next weekend (November 3-4) at league champion Beloit College.

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