Monmouth Volleyball Wins Home Opener

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (09/14/2024) — The Monmouth College volleyball team came from behind to beat Westminster in four sets in the home opener on Friday night. The Scots (4-4) won the match 16-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-22 in their first match of the Monmouth College Invite.

:"There were definitely some jitters to start the match," said head coach Derrick Broekemier. "We settled down in set two and started to play more aggressively while also cleaning up the silly mistakes.:

The first two sets saw no lead changes and no ties. The Bluejays jumped out to a big lead in the opening set and cruised to a 25-16 win. Monmouth turned the tables in the second set, hitting .289 and holding Westminster to a .059 percentage in a 25-17 set win. Layne Wright (Davenport, Iowa) led the Scots with five kills in the set while Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) had four. Monmouth piled up four blocks in the set, led by Melina Teunis (Grand Haven, MIchigan) with two solo blocks.

The third set started in Westminster's favor and they built a 3-point lead early. They extended the lead to five at 16-11 before Monmouth went on a run with senior Paige Bergschneider (Alexander, Illinois) serving. Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) had kills on both sides of a Bergschneider ace and the Scots pulled even at 16. Down 20-19, Paige Foltz (Vinton, Iowa) got a kill and Monmouth took the lead on an error by the Bluejays. Monmouth pushed the lead to three on a service run by Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) and Celus finished off the set with a kill.

The fourth set was the tightest of the match with 11 ties and seven lead changes. Neither team led by more than two until Foltz's kill gave the Scots a 21-18 lead. Wright picked up two consecutive kills after a diving dig from Savannah Robinson (Delavan, Illinois). Westminster cut the lead to 24-22 but Foltz finished off the match with a kill down the middle.

"This was a great team win and the girls were fired up after the match in the locker room," said Broekemier. "Now we need to use the same intensity for our Saturday matches."

Wright led the Scots with a season-high 14 kills while Celus added 10. Foltz and Strachan both had eight kills and Lauren Aldrich (Wauconda, Illinois) added six. Mattson had 20 assists, two more than Bergschneider. Robinson posted a season-high 26 digs and Bergschneider had three aces. Foltz had a career-high six blocks while Strachan and Teunis both had four.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Wright has 95 career aces ... She has five matches this season with 10 or more kills and she has at least eight kills in all eight matches ... Celus has at least 10 kills in five of her six matches ... Mattson has at least 20 assists in three matches this season ... Bergschneider tied her season high with 18 assists ... Robinson has gone over 20 digs in two of the last three matchesMonmouth had a season-best 12 blocks ... The Scots are 4-1 all-time against Westminster ... The Scots play two home matches on Saturday with a Noon match against MSOE and a 6 p.m. showdown with Knox.