Scots Fall to Cornell in Four Sets on Friday

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (10/19/2024) — The Monmouth College volleyball team won a set off Cornell for the first time since 2019 but ultimately lost in four sets on Friday night. The Fighting Scots (14-9, 3-1) suffered their first home loss of the season as the Rams won 25-20, 25-16, 14-25, 25-16.

Monmouth got two early kills from Paige Foltz (Vinton, Iowa), and Layne Wright (Davenport, Iowa) for a 3-1 lead. Foltz and Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) added kills for a 5-4 lead and Lauren Aldrich (Wauconda, Illinois) had her first kill as well. Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) had an ace before two straight kills by Wright. A kill by Strachan and a Cornell error gave Monmouth a 12-8 lead but Cornell rallied to lead 16-14. Monmouth tied the set at 17 on a kill by Wright and pulled to within one at 20-19 on a kill from Foltz. Cornell won the final four points of the set to win 25-20.

Strachan and Celus started the second set with kills but Cornell turned up the pressure to lead 7-3. Out of a timeout, Monmouth got the sideout on an error and Alana Robertson (Mapleton, Illinois) picked up a kill. Cornell pushed the lead to 13-6 and then to 19-10. Aldrich got a kill for a sideout but Cornell responded with two straight to lead 21-11. Aldrich got another kill to set up Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) on the serve. The Scots took two straight points on Cornell errors and the Rams called timeout with a 21-14 lead. Cornell won two straight with an ace and Foltz kept Monmouth alive with a kill. Wright added a kill but Cornell finished off the set at 25-16.

Monmouth got off to a great start in the third set as Wright had a kill and served up two aces in a 5-0 run. Cornell called timeout but Monmouth won the next two points for a 7-0 lead. Cornell cut the lead down to 9-5 before Aldrich and Foltz had kills to push the Monmouth advantage to 13-6. Strachan and Aldrich picked up kills as did Robertson as Monmouth led 17-10. Paige Bergschneider (Alexander, Illinois) served up three more points and Robertson's kill gave the Scots a 21-11 lead. Aldrich served Monmouth to set point and a kill by Wright finished off the set at 25-14.

Cornell won the first two points of the fourth set before Wright had her 12th kill of the night and Robertson added a block. Savannah Robinson (Delavan, Illinois) aced the Rams and Strachan added a kill for a 5-4 Monmouth lead. The set was tied at every point between 2-2 and 10-10 before the Rams won five straight to lead 15-10. Aldrich stopped the run with a kill but the Rams pushed the lead to 20-12. Melina Teunis (Grand Haven, Michigan) picked up a kill to end the Cornell run. Foltz got a kill to cut the Cornell lead to 23-16 but the Rams finished the match with two straight points.

Wright led the Scots with 13 kills while Aldrich had 11. Bergschneider had 17 assists and Mattson had 15 while Wright led the way with three aces. Robinson had 17 digs and Foltz had three blocks.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Wright passed Laura Dulee for fifth on the career aces list with three on Friday, pushing her career total to 148 ... Wright has at least 10 kills in 13 matches this season and six of the last eight ... Aldrich has 10 or more kills in seven matches this season, including two in a row ... Monmouth's last win against Cornell was at home on Sept. 25, 2010 ... They last won a set against the Rams in 2019 and have lost three 3-1 matches since the 2010 win with the others being 3-0 sweeps ... The all-time series is tied 33-33 and Cornell has won 14 of the last 15 matchups ... The last 4-0 start in conference play was in 2011 when the team started 6-0 en route to a 7-2 MWC record and tournament berth ...Monmouth faces Beloit for Senior Day at 1 p.m. Saturday.