Celus Powers Home 15 Kills as Scots Sweep Rockford

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (10/23/2024) — The Monmouth College volleyball team never trailed on Tuesday as they swept Rockford University in a road non-conference match. The Fighting Scots (16-9) dominated throughout, winning 25-15, 25-20, 25-15.

"Overall it was a strong performance," said head coach Derrick Broekemier. "We stayed focused for most of the match and stuck to what we can control: our side of the net."

The Scots jumped out to a 4-0 lead with Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) serving. After two Regents errors, Mattson had an ace and Layne Wright (Davenport, Iowa) delivered a kill. Paige Foltz (Vinton, Iowa) and Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) added kills as the Scots pushed the lead to 7-3, Alana Robertson (Mapleton, Illinois) got in on the attack and Wright added another kill for an 11-6 advantage. Lauren Aldrich (Wauconda, Illinois) picked up a kill and the Scots won four straight points with Savannah Robinson (Delavan, Illinois) serving before Rockford called timeout in a 18-11 set. Robertson added a kill and Celus picked up two aces to get the Scots to set point. Wright's kill finished off the set at 25-15 with Celus and Wright leading the way with four kills each.

Up 1-0 in the second set, Foltz and Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) shared a block and Strachan added a kill for a 3-1 lead. Celus had a kill and Paige Bergschneider (Alexander, Illinois) took over on serve. A block gave the Scots a 6-2 lead and two Regents errors added on. Kills from Aldrich and Foltz made it 12-6 before the teams traded points with the Scots up 16-10. Rockford scored three straight and stayed within three until a kill by Wright made it 19-15. The hosts won four of the next five points and Monmouth called timeout leading 20-19. Celus picked up a kill and Robertson shared a block with Strachan. An ace by Robinson made it 23-19 and Celus gave the Scots set point with a kill. Alrdich drilled a kill off the top of the net for a 25-20 set win.

An error by Rockford and an ace by Mattson gave the Scots a 2-0 lead in the third set. Celus and Strachan had kills before Robinson served another ace. Robertson added a kill and a block before Rockford called timeout down 9-4. Robertson won another point at the net, Strachan had a kill and Celus added a kill as the Scots kept the run going from 4-4 to 13-4. Aldrich and Strachan had kills for a 15-6 lead before Rockford won two points in a row. Celus ended the run with a kill and Wright added a point for a 17-9 lead. Aldrich delivered the next two Monmouth points for a 20-11 lead and Wright added a block. Rockford narrowed the lead to 21-14 before a service error put Robinson on serve. Celus had two straight kills to set up match point and Robertson finished the match with a kill.

Celus led the Scots with 15 kills, a career-high in a 3-set match. Aldrich and Wright had seven kills while Robertson added six and Strahan had five. Mattson had 19 assists while Bergschneider had 15. Wright led the Scots with 10 digs while Robinson and Bergschneider both had nine. Zoe Nizzia (Pekin, Illinois) and Mattson added eight digs each. Robertson had five blocks, one off her season and career best. The Scots served up six aces, two each from Mattson, Robinson and Celus.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Celus has at least 10 kills in 19 of her 23 matches this season ... She had 14 kills in a 3-set sweep at Ripon on Oct. 4 ... She has at least two aces in eight matches this season ... The Scots hit .268 in the match, led by Robertson hitting .545 and Aldrich hitting .429 ... Robinson has at least one ace in eighth straight matches with 15 total aces in that stretch .... The match had zero lead changes and only two ties, both early in the final set ... Monmouth had nine blocks ... Monmouth has 16 wins, the most since the 2012 team won 19 ... The 16-9 record is the best after 25 matches since the 2010 team was 17-8 ... The Scots are 13-0 all-time against Rockford with four straight 3-0 wins ... The teams last met in 2022 and the Scots hadn't played in Rockford since a 5-set win in 2009 ... The Scots play the final home game of the season onSaturday at 1 p.m. against Lawrence.