Scots Volleyball Sweeps Eureka

Woodard Named Defensive Performer of Week

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (09/09/2021) — The Monmouth College volleyball team improved to 5-1 with a sweep of the Eureka Red Devils at Glennie Gym on Wednesday night. The Scots have now won seven in a row against the Red Devils after the 25-22, 25-10, 25-15 victory.

"Our goal was to focus on our side tonight, take care of business and we did that pretty well," said coach Emily Thebeau. "We started slow but ended up finishing really well tonight."

The Scots sprinted out to a 13-7 lead in the first set and led 20-13 when Eureka called timeout. The Red Devils cut the lead to 23-22 before Monmouth finished off the set. Loryn Beal (Pontiac, Illinois), Sarah LaHood (East Peoria, Illinois) and Kenzie Russell (Morton, Illinois) all had three kills in the opening set.

"Our energy could have been a bit better in the first but we hung in rallies well and let Eureka make the errors," said Thebeau. "We kept points going and took care of our side which is ultimately exactly what we want to do"

Eureka jumped out to an early lead in the second set but the Scots quickly took control. Monmouth led 10-5 and never looked back as they cruised to a 25-10 set win. The Scots had three aces and three blocks in the set. Layne Wright (Davenport, Iowa) had five kills in the set and Amanda Dybal (Apex, North Carolina) had four.

The Scots were rarely tested in the third set as they led 12-6 and 18-8. Eureka grabbed a couple late points as Monmouth won 25-15. Dybal had five kills in the final set while Wright had four and the Scots piled up four final-set aces.

"There are some things we can work on and this weekend will be very challenging for us," said Thebeau. "Playing tough teams will help us grow and we can learn some things about ourselves."

Dybal led the way with 11 kills while Wright finished with 10 and Beal had seven. Beal had three aces with Wright and Karlie Drish (Milan, Illinois) both grabbing two. Kaylee Woodard (Monmouth, Illinois) led the Scots with 18 digs while Drish had 25 assists.

"We appreciate our crowd again tonight, love having all the Scots in there with us and hopefully it will continue all fall," said Thebeau.

Monmouth Moments: At 5-1 the Scots are tied with the 2012 team for the best start of the last decadeWoodard was named Midwest Conference Defensive Performer of the Week on Wednesday afternoon...She has 134 digs so far on the season and was All-Tournament at the IC Invitational over the weekend...The Scots had five team blocks, led by Megan Kimble (Farmington, Illinois) with one solo and two assistsWright posted a .474 hit percentage while Dybal was at .417.After hitting .214 in the first set the Scots hit .368 in the secondMonmouth held Eureka to .073 hit percentage for the night and just one blockThe Scots will play in the Holiday Inn Classic hosted by Illinois Wesleyan this weekendThey will play the host Titans on Friday and then #11 Ohio Northern and Earlham on SaturdayMonmouth is next at home on Wednesday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. against Augustana.