Scots Sweep Ripon to Open MWC Action

Celus leads Monmouth with 14 kills, five aces.

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (10/05/2024) — The Monmouth College volleyball team looked confident as they started Midwest Conference play at Ripon on Friday night with a commanding 3-0 win. The Fighting Scots (11-8, 1-0) dispatched the Red Hawks 25-23, 25-8, 25-15, their first win in Doc Wieske Gym in 13 years.

"I'm so proud of this group," said head coach Derrick Broekemier. "Ripon is a good team and we knew we had to come in here and fight hard. That's exactly what we did for the MWC opener."

The opening set was back-and-forth throughout as Layne Wright (Davenport, Iowa) got a kill on the first point but neither team led by more than two. A kill by Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) put the Scots up 7-5 but Ripon won the next four points. Monmouth pulled even at 12 with Savannah Robinson (Delavan, Illinois) serving and Celus added another kill. Monmouth finally pushed the lead to three at 17-14 on two straight kills from Lauren Aldrich (Wauconda, Illinois) but Ripon won the next six points to lead 20-17. A kill by Paige Foltz (Vinton, Iowa) and an ace by Alana Robertson (Mapleton, Illinois) tied the set at 20. Wright tied the set at 23 with a kill and Monmouth finished off the opening set on a kill by Celus.

The second set started with Ripon leading 3-2 but the Scots dominated the rest of the way. A block by Foltz and Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) gave Monmouth a lead and Wright added an ace. Celus broke a 6-6 tie with a kill and added another one after two Ripon errors. The hosts called timeout at 10-6 and got a sideout. Monmouth won the next 12 points to lead 22-7, all on the serve of Celus. Robertson had three blocks in the run, Wright had three kills and Celus had an ace. Robertson got a kill for a 23-8 lead and two Ripon errors finished off the set at 25-8.

The teams split the first 10 points of the second set until Monmouth went on another run. Celus had two straight aces for a 7-5 lead and added another one for a 9-5 advantage. Wright and Aldrich had kills for a 12-6 lead and Ripon called timeout down seven. Aldrich picked up another kill with Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) serving and the Scots pushed the lead to 15-7. Strachan and Celus had kills for a 17-9 lead and another Celus kill forced a Red Hawks timeout. Robinson picked up an ace before Ripon won five straight points, trimming the lead to 21-14. Celus ended the run with her 13th kill of the night and added another one for match point. An error by Ripon finished the match at 25-15.

Celus led the Scots with 14 kills while Wright had nine. Paige Bergschneider (Alexander, Illinois) had 13 assists and Mattson had 11. Celus added five aces and Mattson led the team with 13 aces. Robertson had five blocks, one more than Foltz

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Celus has at least 10 kills in 16 of her 17 matches on the season ... She hit .324 for the match ... The Scots had nine aces from five different players ... Robinson moved into 12th on the career digs list, passing Michelle Kommer ... Robinson, Mattson, Wright and Zoe Nizzia (Pekin, Illinois) all had at least 10 digs ... Monmouth had nine blocks ... The Scots are 5-3 in 3-set matches this season ... Monmouth is 19-15 all-time against Ripon with two straight wins ... Monmouth had lost five straight in Ripon with the last win coming on Sep. 30, 2011 ... The Scots play at Lake Forest on Saturday with a 1 p.m. start ... The next home match is against Illinois College on Oct. 11.