Celus, Teunis Reach Milestones as Scots Beat Foresters
Monmouth, IL (10/31/2026) — The Monmouth College volleyball team knocked off Lake Forest College in four sets at home on Friday night as two players set career milestones. The Fighting Scots (8-15, 5-3) prevailed 25-23, 20-25, 25-19, 25-20 as Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) reached the 1000 career kill milestone and Melina Teunis (Grand Haven, Michigan) delivered her 200th career block.
Celus started the match with three straight kills and added a fourth for a 4-2 lead. Celus had an ace and Teunis put down her first kill. Haley Smither (Albany, Illinois) and Celus had kills as the teams traded points before Abby Viano (Braidwood, Illinois) and Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) shared a pair of blocks. Monmouth led 15-12 on a block by Teunis before Strachan and Brianna Carden (Pecatonica, Illinois) delivered kills. Lake Forest called timeout down 20-17 and went on a 5-1 run to lead 22-21. Smither tied the set with a kill and Lake Forest hit the next two balls out as Monmouth won the set 25-23.
Celus had the first Monmouth kill of the second set for a 2-1 lead. Lake Forest won the next four points before a timeout and a service error. Isa Hughes (Chicago, Illinois) served two aces and Celus had another kill but LFC responded to lead 10-6. Smither and Carden added kills as the teams traded points. Celus had two kills, including the 1000th of her career but the Foresters kept the lead at three. The Scots pulled within two at 18-16 before the visitors won the next three points. Carden and Strachan delivered kills before Kami Barth (Washington, Illinois) served an ace but Lake Forest won the set 25-20.
Lake Forest won the first two points of the third set before Teunis had a kill and a block. Smither and Celus had kills for the lead. Celus and Teunis shared a block and Viano had a solo block before LFC called timeout down 9-4. Monmouth kept the lead at five as Strachan delivered a kill. Hughes served two aces to force a timeout by LFC. Teunis had a block for a 17-10 lead and the Scots added a point on a Foresters error. LFC scored the next three points before kills by Celus and Carden. Monmouth had two straight service errors and LFC cut the lead to 21-17. Strachan had a kill as did Celus for a 23-18 lead. After another LFC error, Celus finished off the set at 25-19.
Viano and Strachan started the fourth set with a block and Teunis had a kill. Lake Forest went on a run to lead 8-3 before a service error. Teunis, Celus and Carden had kills as the teams traded points. Viano and Carden had kills and Celus pulled Monmouth within three. After the teams traded service errors, LFC hit one out and Hughes served an ace. Another LFC error tied the set and a block by Teunis and Celus put Monmouth on top 15-14. Teunis had another error and Viano shared a block with Carden for a 20-16 lead. The teams traded points as Viano had a kill and LFC pulled within three at 22-19. After a LFC service error, Viano set up match point with a kill. The Forresters got a side out but Strachan finished off the match with a kill and a 25-20 set four win.
Celus led the way with 15 kills while Teunis, Strachan and Carden each had five. Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) led Monmouth with 17 assists while Hughes had 16 to go with a team-best five aces. Barth had 19 digs while Mattson and Celus both had 10. Viano led the Scots with seven blocks, Teunis had five and Strachan had three.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Celus is the eighth player in school history and the sixth in the rally-scoring era to reach 1000 career kills ... Teunis is the 11th player in school history and the ninth in the rally-scoring era to reach 200 career total blocks ... She is the first to reach 200 since Riley Cook and Lauren Sperry both did so in 2019Celus has at least 10 kills in 15 matches this season ... Barth has at least 11 digs in eight straight matches and has been in double digits 12 times this season ... Hughes tied her season and career high of five aces from Sept. 12 ... The Scots lead the all-time series 23-17 with three straight wins ... The Scots are 6-4 in the last 10 against the Foresters ... Monmouth won 3-1 at home last year ... The Scots finish the MWC portion of the regular-season schedule at home against Beloit on Saturday with a 1 p.m. start ... With a home win on Saturday the Scots will assure themselves of finishing no worse than tied for third but they can still be seeded anywhere from 3rd to 6th in the MWC Tournament.
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Nathan Baliva 309-457-2322 nbaliva@monmouthcollege.eduShare this Story
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