The Lawrence University volleyball team welcomed Monmouth and Illinois Colleges to Alexander Gymnasium last weekend, where the team turned in its most impressive games of the season.
Junior Clare Bohrer had 18 kills as the Vikings handed top-ranked Monmouth its first conference loss of the season. The second game of their doubleheader was much closer, but Lawrence still managed to squeak out a victory against Illinois College in five games.
The Vikings (11-14, 3-4 MWC) came out on fire against Monmouth (17-10, 6-2 MWC), winning the first game by a margin of 25-13. Lawrence then took a two-games-to-none lead by winning the following game 25-23.
The Vikings’ only slip-up was in the third game, when they narrowly lost by a score of 25-22, but they bounced back to top the Fighting Scots 25-20 in the fourth and final game. Bohrer converted on 18 of her 36 kill attempts, and sophomore Shannon McLain added 12 kills for the Vikings, who were paced by 28 sets from freshman Diane McLeod.
The following day, the Vikings looked ready to run away with another match, this time against Illinois College (6-17, 2-7 MWC). Lawrence opened up the match with a 25-20 victory in the first game, but followed that up by losing the next two games 25-18, 26-24.
The Vikings, however, were able to rally in the remaining two games to secure the victory and the weekend sweep. Bohrer once again led the Vikings with a game-high 20 kills on 41 attempts.
McLain was just behind her with 19 kills, and McLeod had 44 set attempts. Freshman Kathleen Rowland led Lawrence with 22 digs.
The Vikings, who have essentially been eliminated from playoff contention, have nonetheless continued to fight hard against the conference’s top teams. This weekend Lawrence will take on Beloit before hosting the Lawrence Triangular, in which they will face off against Lake Forest and non-conference foe UW-Stevens Point to finish out the season.
Volleyball wins big over weekend
