Scots Start Fast and Sweep Knox Wednesday

Dybal's 12 kills, Woodard's 32 digs lead Monmouth

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (10/14/2021) — The Monmouth College volleyball team jumped out to a big lead Wednesday night against rival Knox College and never looked back with a 25-12, 25-18, 25-18 sweep. The win moves the Scots to 9-11 overall and 2-3 in Midwest Conference play.

"We followed out game plan tonight," said coach Emily Thebeau. "We've been working on things in practice to not only take care of our side but to beat the team on the other side as well. We totally handled everything we've been working on."

Monmouth sprinted out to a 9-2 lead in the first set and kept the pedal to the metal taking the opener 25-12. The Scots had seven aces in the opening set with senior Kaylee Woodard (Monmouth, Illinois) grabbing three. Karlie Drish (Milan, Illinois) handed out eight assists on the Scots nine first-set kills.

"Fast start and that's the whole point is to create energy and carry the energy throughout the game and control things," said Thebeau. "We finally did that tonight and it was so fun to watch."

After never trailing in the first set, the Scots did fall behind early in the second set. The set went back-and-forth until Monmouth took control at 11-10 and extended the lead with two more points after a Knox timeout. The Scots steadily pulled away and took the set by the final of 25-18. Megan Kimble (Farmington, Illinois) had four kills in the first set while Woodard had 16 digs and Drish had 12 assists.

Monmouth again jumped out to a big lead in the third set, forcing an early Knox timeout. Amanda Dybal (Apex, North Carolina), led the way in the third set with seven kills. Woodard had 11 more digs in the final set and Drish had 10 additional assists.

"It's great to see everyone contribute and the whole team come together to do the job in a very great way," said Thebeau.

For the match Dybal lead the Scots with 12 kills while Kimble and Loryn Beal (Pontiac, Illinois) both had seven. Woodard had 32 digs while Beal added 11. Drish led the Scots with 30 assists and Kimble had three blocks.

"Kaylee was great back there again tonight and she's been working her butt off and deserves every moment of the celebration she's getting," said Thebeau. "She was very consistent again tonight."

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: The Scots and Prairie Fire are now tied for fifth in the MWC at 2-3, one game behind 3-2 Lake ForestThe Scots won at Lake Forest earlier this seasonThe Scots posted a .231 hitting percentage while holding Knox to a .016 percentageWoodard leads the conference in digsDrish missed a double-double by one digThe Scots have won the second set in all nine of their wins this seasonMonmouth is 3-2 at home this season and all three wins have been 3-0 sweepsMonmouth is next in action on Saturday with two home matchesThe Scots host Beloit in a MWC match at 11 a.m. and face Greenville at 3 p.m.