Volleyball Falls at Augie on Friday

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (10/23/2026) — The Monmouth College volleyball team were swept in a non-conference match at Augustana on Friday night. The Fighting Scots (7-14) fell to the Vikings (7-13) 25-23, 25-20, 25-18.

Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) started the match with two kills and Kami Barth (Washington, Illinois) served back-to-back aces for a 4-0 lead. Augustana responded with three points and the teams traded errors until Abby Viano (Braidwood, Illinois) delivered a kill for an 8-6 lead. Celus had Monmouth's next four kills for a 12-10 lead before the Vikings won six straight points. Celus delivered another kill and the Scots pulled within one at 17-16. Monmouth won the next three points to take the lead as Viano added another kill. Two more kills from Celus put the Scots up 23-21 but the Vikings won the next four points to take the set.

Barth started the second set with an ace and a kill from Celus made it 3-1. After a 3-0 run by the hosts, Melina Teunis (Grand Haven, Michigan) delivered a kill but Augustana pushed the lead to 9-5. The Vikings led 11-8 when Celus had another kill and shared a block with Teunis. A kill by Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) cut the Augie lead to 14-13 and Celus tied the set with an ace. Teunis had a kill during a 5-1 Vikings run and Brianna Carden (Pecatonica, Illinois) had a kill. Viano had a kill and Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) served an ace before Augie called timeout with a 1-point lead. Out of the timeout, Augustana won five straight points to finish off the set at 25-20.

Celus started the third set with a kill and Teunis made it 2-1 with a kill. Augustana won the next six points and never looked back. The hosts led 14-7 when Haley Smither (Albany, Illinois) picked up a kill and Celus added two more. A kill by Teunis pulled Monmouth within four at 17-13 The teams traded points as Carden made it 21-16 with a kill and Viano added a block. Augustana won the next three points to set up match points and they finished off the match at 25-18.

Celus led the Scots with 14 kills and no one else had more than four. Mattson led the way with 10 assists while Isa Hughes (Chicago, Illinois) added eight. Barth had three aces and 17 digs while Viano led the team with three blocks.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Celus has at least 10 kills in 13 matches this season ... Celus has an ace in nine straight matches and 119 for her career ... Smither tied her career and season-high with two kills ... Barth has at least 11 digs in six straight matches and has been in double digits 10 times this season ... The Fighting Scots fell 25-22, 25-20, 25-15 to the Vikings at home in September ... Augustana leads the series 36-25 with 10 straight wins ... The Scots play in Rock Island against UW-Lacrosse at 10 a.m. Saturday ... The next home game is Oct. 30 against Lake Forest.