Scots Volleyball Falls to IC on Friday

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (10/10/2026) — The Monmouth College volleyball team lost at home to Illinois College on Friday night. The Fighting Scots (4-12, 1-2) fell to the Lady Blues 25-18, 25-21, 12-25, 25-14 to start Homecoming weekend.

Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) had the first kill of the evening for a 2-0 lead but IC won the next three points Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) tied the set with a kill and the teams traded points. Bri Woodard (Monmouth, Illinois) added a kill to tie the set before IC went on a run to lead 14-8. The visitors pushed the lead to 16-9 before Celus nailed a kill down the line. Melina Teunis (Grand Haven, Michigan) picked up a kill down the middle off a set by Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) but IC got a sideout to lead 17-11. The Scots had a pair of blocks, Woodard added two kills and Celus served an ace but IC rallied for a 23-16 lead. The teams traded points before the Lady Blues clinched the set at 25-18.

Illinois College won the first four points of the second set before hitting a serve into the net. The Scots went on a 5-0 run with Kami Barth (Washington, Illinois) serving as she picked up an ace while Strachan and Teunis had a block. Teunis also shared a block with Woodard to tie the set at 8-8. Woodard had a kill and shared a block with Abby Viano (Braidwood, Illinois)
as Teunis served an ace but IC tied it again at 12-12. Brianna Carden (Pecatonica, Illinois) had a kill, as did Celus for a 16-16 tie. After another tie at 17, IC won four straight points before a kill by Woodard. She added another kill, as did Strachan but IC won the set 25-21.

Viano and Strachan shared two blocks early and Celus added a kill for a 5-2 Monmouth lead. Isa Hughes (Chicago, Illinois) served an ace, Woodard added a kill and two IC errors made it 10-3. Viano added a solo block, Carden had two kills and Woodard had a kill for a 15-5 lead. Barth served an ace and a kill by Strachan forced an IC timeout at 19-7. IC pulled within nine before Woodard delivered a kill and Hughes added an ace. Teunis made it 23-12 with a kill and Celus finished off the set with an ace.

Celus started the fourth set with a kill before IC won two straight points. Strachan and Teunis combined for a block but IC won five points in a row to lead 8-3. Teunis had a solo block before another IC run made it 14-5. Two straight errors by IC gave the Scots some momentum with Tayler Raska (Galesburg, Illinois) adding an ace. Celus got a kill but IC answered to lead 17-8. Viano and Strachan shared a block and Teunis had a kill but IC led 20-9. Hughes served another ace but the visitors finished the match at 25-14.

Woodard led the Scots with 10 kills while Celus had eight. Hughes had 13 assists and Mattson added 10 while Barth led the team with 11 digs. Strachan and Viano both had six blocks while Hughes and Barth led the team with three aces each.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Barth had a career-high three aces and a career-high three assists ... Woodard has at least 10 kills in two of the three MWC matches ... Strachan tied her career-high in blocks ... Viano set a new career-high in blocks ... Monmouth had 10 aces on the night and 11 blocks ... The match had 19 ties, 11 in the second set ... The Scots honored Chelsey Widdop '13 who will be inducted into the M Club Hall of Fame on Saturday ... She served as an honorary coach on FridayTeunis moved past Widdop for 10th on the career block assists list ... Monmouth had won two straight but Illinois College leads the all-time series 34-29 ... The Scots won 3-2 last year in Jacksonville and 3-1 at home in 2024 ... The Scots host Knox for Homecoming at Noon on Saturday.