RIPON, Wis. - Ripon's volleyball team clinched a spot in the 2017 Midwest Conference Tournament earlier this week, but before they compete for an automatic bid to the NCAA Division-III Tournament, the Red Hawks first needed to finish their regular season schedule, which they did Friday in a four-set loss to Lake Forest College. Ripon won the first set 25-22, but lost the next two by identical 25-18 scores, and dropping the fourth and final frame by a score of 25-20.

Ripon recorded more kills than Lake Forest on the night (50-46), but the Foresters' hitting percentage of .231 bettered Ripon's (.103). There were 16 ties and eight lead changes during the match.

Ripon (10-16, 5-4 MWC) was led by its two seniors on Senior Night, as Jonalee Elliott and Kat Kulas recorded 18 and 16 kills, respectively. Kulas also led the team with a hitting percentage of .357, to go along with three blocks, while Elliott finished with a hitting percentage of .191, and two blocks. Olivia Heck led the team in assists (22), while Stacie Klika recorded team-highs in both digs (17) and service aces (2).

Lake Forest (12-14, 4-5 MWC) saw Olivia Smith lead the way with 14 kills and a hitting percentage of .312. Maxie Mottlowitz added 11 kills and a .474 hitting percentage, while Hannah Nauert recorded a match-high 39 assists. The Foresters held a 15-5 edge in total team blocks.

The Red Hawks will now get ready for postseason play, as they will face St. Norbert College on November 3 at 4:30 p.m. in Mount Vernon, Iowa in the MWC Tournament semi-finals, hosted by Cornell College. The winners of the two semi-finals will battle each other on November 4 at 1 p.m. All MWC Tournament matches can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.