Scots Rally Past Grinnell on Tuesday

Monmouth finishes with 17 blocks, 13 aces

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (10/21/2026) — The Monmouth College volleyball team picked up a huge 3-1 home win over third-place Grinnell on Tuesday. The Fighting Scots (7-13, 4-3) prevailed 18-25, 25-14, 25-23, 25-19 to move into a tie with the Pioneers.

Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) had Monmouth's first kill while Bri Woodard (Monmouth, Illinois) added one and Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) served an ace for a 4-2 lead. Grinnell won the next two points before Melina Teunis (Grand Haven, Michigan) and Briana Carden (Pecatonica, Illinois) combined on a block. The teams traded points until Monmouth led 9-8 as Strachan and Woodard added kills. The Pioneers won the next five points to lead 13-9 before Monmouth called timeout. Celus picked up a kill and Isa Hughes (Chicago, Illinois) had two aces and a kill as the Scots pulled even. Celus had another ace and kills by Woodard and Carden tied the set at 16. Grinnell won nine of the next 11 points to take the opening set 25-18.

The teams traded aces and service errors on the first five points of the second set with Monmouth leading 3-2 on an ace by Celus. Woodard and Viano shared a block for a 7-6 lead before a kill by Carden and an ace from Teunis extended the run. Carden had another kill and a block by Strachan and Viano forced a Grinnell timeout at 12-7. A kill by Carden made it 13-8 before the Pioneers won two points in a row. Strachan had a kill as did Celus and Teunis for an 18-12 lead. Celus served an ace and three kills by Carden made it 23-14. Viano and Strachan shared a block and a kill by Strachan finished off the set at 25-14.

"Blocking, we were all on the same page tonight," said Teunis. "We were closing as middles and the pins were doing really good reading their hitters. We didn't come out as strong as we wanted to but we really got the momentum going in the second set."

Grinnell won the first three points of the third set before Strachan had a kill. Hughes served an ace before a block by Teunis and Woodard tied the set. Celus served an ace after a Grinnell error and Teunis tied the set at 6-6 with a kill. Teunis and Carden shared a block for the lead and two more blocks and two aces by Celus put Monmouth up 11-6. Grinnell closed the gap to two before a kill from Carden made it 14-10. Leading by one, Carden picked up another kill and the Pioneers committed an error. Grinnell won four points in a row out of a timeout to lead 17-16.
Down 20-17, Monmouth got a sideout and Hughes served an ace. Celus got a kill and served an ace for a 21-20 lead. Grinnell tied the set at 22 before Teunis delivered a kill. Woodard's kill made it set point and a block by Viano and Strachan finished the set at 25-23.

"We were aggressive tonight with the serve and getting the ball where we wanted to," said Celus. "We were feeding off each other all game, from the digs to the sets and then hitting hard and placing the ball."

Celus and Teunis had early kills in the fourth set as the teams traded points. Teunis added a block and Celus had a kill to put the Scots back on top. A kill by Woodard made it 7-5 and kills by Teunis, Celus and Carden put the Scots on top 13-9. After a Grinnell timeout, Woodard delivered a kill and the teams traded points with Monmouth on top 16-13. After two Grinnell points and a MC timeout, Woodard delivered a kill and Strachan shared a block with Viano. Grinnell grabbed a point before Viano had a solo block and Teunis teamed with Strachan on a block for a 21-17 lead. Celus had a kill and the Scots led 23-19. On match point, the 17th block of the night finished off the Pioneers as Teunis and Woodard combined to seal the match.

Carden led the way with a career-high 10 kills while Celus had nine and Woodard added six. Teunis tied a career-high with 11 blocks while Woodard had a career-high seven. Hughes had 17 assists and Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) had 12. Celus served a career-high eight aces and Hughes had four. Kami Barth (Washington, Illinois)led the Scots with 16 digs while Hughes had 15 and Mattson added 13.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Teunis also had 11 blocks against Illinois Tech in September ... The Scots had 17 blocks as a team, the most since they had 18 against Lakeland on Sept. 13, 2014 ... Celus has an ace in eight straight matches and 118 for her career ... The eight aces were one more than she had against Martin Luther last year ... Teunis moved into ninth on the rally era career blocks list with 196 ... She also moved past Kari Jefferson for ninth on the career block assists list and tied Becca Dabrowski for eighth on the solo blocks list ... The Scots had a season-high 13 aces as a team and limited Grinnell to five ... Barth has at least 11 digs in five straight matches and nine times she's been in double digits this season ... The Scots lead the all-time series against Grinnell 49-25 with two straight wins ... Monmouth won in Iowa 3-0 last year for the first win in the series since 2015 ... Monmouth's last home win in the series was in 2013 ... The Scots play at Augustana Friday night ... The next home game is Oct. 30 against Lake Forest.