Robinson, Wright Reach Milestones as Scots Split on Friday

Celus powers down 47 kills on Friday

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (09/21/2024) — The Monmouth College volleyball team picked up career milestones from Savannah Robinson (Delavan, Illinois) and Layne Wright (Davenport, Iowa) on Friday as they split two matches at the UW-LaCrosse Invitational. Monmouth (7-5) beat Macalester in four sets (25-21, 25-21, 22-25, 25-21) before falling in five sets to UW-LaCrosse (25-19, 14-25, 25-22, 23-25, 16-14).

Monmouth jumped out to an early lead in set one with Robinson serving. She provided an ace and Wright Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) and Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) delivered kills for a 6-3 lead. Wright added another kill while Celus was on a 4-point service run for an 11-5 lead. Lauren Aldrich (Wauconda, Illinois) and Paige Foltz (Vinton, Iowa) combined on a block after a Celus kill for a 13-5 lead Two kills by Celus and another from Strachan gave Monmouth an 18-8 lead. Macalester cut the lead to 24-21, but Celus finished off the set with her sixth kill.

The second set featured eight ties and two lead changes. Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) started on serve and Foltz shared a block with Strachan for a 1-0 lead. Robinson grabbed an ace after a Celus kill and the teams traded points early. The set was tied at 15 before Monmouth won four points in a row. Wright had two kills and Aldrich had one as Paige Bergschneider (Alexander, Illinois) picked up three straight assists. Monmouth called timeout at 22-20 and Foltz grabbed a kill for the 3-point lead. Leading 24-21, Strachan finished off the set with a kill.

Macalester never gave up the lead in the third set after an early tie. They pushed the lead to 9-4 before Celus got a kill and Monmouth won four straight points. Aldrich got a kill to tie the set 10-10 but Macalester pushed the lead back to three. Kills by Celuis and Strachan forced a timeout at 14-all and the set was tied again at 15. Macalester won four of the next five points and Monmouth couldn't get closer than two, dropping the set 25-22.

The fourth set featured nine ties and five lead changes with three of those ties coming in the first six points. Macalester led 7-3 and 9-5 before Monmouth rallied. Aldrich had a kill and Wright added another with Melina Teunis (Grand Haven, Michigan) serving. The set was tied at 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15 before Robinson had two straight aces. Tied at 20, Monmouth called timeout and Wright gave the team a lead with a kill. Aldrich added another and Wright made it 23-21 with her 15th kill. A kill by Zoe Nizzia (Pekin, Illinois) made it 24-21 and a block by Wright and Foltz finished off the set and match.

Celsius led the Scots with 22 kills while Wright had 15. Bergschneider paced Monmouth with 25 assists and Mattson had 23. Robinson put up 23 digs and led the Scots with five aces. Foltz had four blocks while Strachan had three.

Scots and Eagles Go Distance in Nightcap

Monmouth fell behind early in the first set to host UW-LaCrosse. The Eagles built a 4-1 lead and pushed it to 7-3 and eventually 10-4. Celus got a kill after a timeout and Wright picked up a kill to cut the lead to 11-7. Monmouth won three straight on Mattson's serve and closed the gap to 12-11 on a kill by Wright. The Eagles won the next four points and kept the lead at four until Celus got a kill at 19-16. Alana Robertson (Mapleton, Illinois) got a kill to pull Monmouth within two but UWL pushed the lead to 23-18. Wright's fourth kill moved her into 10th all-time in Scots history but the Eagles won the next two points to win the set 25-18.

The Scots changed the momentum early in the second set. Strachan started the set with a kill before Celus and Robertson added kills. Another Celus kill gave Monmouth a 6-2 lead and forced a UWL timeout. Bergschneider served up an ace and Wright's kill put the Scots on top 10-2. Aldrich and Celus followed with kills for a 12-5 advantage. A kill by Robertson and two more from Wright forced another UWL timeout at 15-6. Foltz picked up a kill as did Strachan to put Monmouth up 20-11. Robertson and Wright shared a block and Foltz had a solo block for a 23-13 lead. A kill by Aldrich gave the Scots set point and Foltz finished the set at 25-14 with a kill.

The third set was tight throughout and the Scots got off to a 4-2 lead with an ace by Robinson and a kill from Celus. The teams traded points until the Scots went up 11-8 and maintained the 3-point lead at 15-12. UWL responded with a 5-0 run to lead 17-15 and they never trailed again, winning the set 25-22.

Wright served up two aces as the Scots jumped out to a 3-0 lead in set four. Robinson recorded her 1000th career dig as Aldrich added a kill for a 6-3 lead. The set was tied a couple of times and UWL took an 11-10 lead before Celus tied it again with a kill. The hosts went up 15-12 before Monmouth called timeout. A kill from Celus and an ace by Bergschneider cut the deficit to one. Another kill by Celus, one by Robertson and an ace by Celus gave Monmouth the lead. Wright had two kills before Celus put UWL away with three straight kills for a 25-23 set win.

The start of the fifth was all Eagles as they won the first four points. After a timeout, Wright and Celus had kills to get the Scots on the board. Celus took over with kills on Monmouth's next five points as the Scots built an 8-6 lead. UWL tied the set at 9-9 and Robertson put Monmouth back on top 10-9 with a kill. The Eagles took the next three points to lead 12-10 and the Scots called timeout. The teams traded points and Foltz got a kill before UWL called timeout leading 14-13. Wright tied the match with a kill but UWL won the next two points to take the match.

Celus led the Scots with a career-high 25 kills while Wright had 14. Robinson had 18 digs and Robertson posted six blocks. Mattson and Bergschneider both had 26 assists.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Robinson got to 1000 digs in her 57th match and 198th set ... She is the 15th player in Monmouth history with at least 1000 digs ... Wright moved past Ashley Yeast and Jennifer Tibbie into 10th on the kills list with 837 ... Bergschneider needs 28 assists for 1500 ... Robinson tied a season and career high with five aces against Macalester ... Celus set a new career high with 22 kills in the Macalester match and then topped it with 25 against UWL ... She hit .417 against the Eagles ...The 26 assists against UWL is a career-high for Mattson and Bergschneider set a new season-high with 26 assists in both matches ... Macalester entered the match with a 7-3 record ...Robertson posted a career-high six blocks against UWL ... Wright has at least eight kills in 11 of 12 matches ... Celus has at least 10 kills in nine of her 10 matches ... The 7-5 start to the season is the best since the 2012 team started 8-4 ... The Scots play Nebraska Wesleyan and Luther on Saturday ... The next home match is against Illinois College on Oct. 11.