Volleyball Falls to Foresters on Saturday

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (09/30/2023) — The Monmouth College volleyball team won the first set but their win streak ended at six with a 23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-15 loss to Lake Forest on Saturday. The Scots (7-9, 1-1) will play at home against Knox on Wednesday.

The opening set was tight with neither team leading by more than one until Layne Wright (Davenport, Iowa) had consecutive aces to put the Scots on top 12-8. A kill from Zoe Nizzia (Pekin, Illinois) and an attack error pushed the lead to 16-11 and the Foresters called timeout. Amanda Dybal (Apex, North Carolina) extended the lead to six with a kill and Kenzie Russell (Morton, Illinois) added a kill after Lake Forest got a sideout. The Foresters rallied to tie the set at 21-21 before Nizzia's kill gave the Scots a 23-21 lead. She got another kill for set point and an error by Lake Forest gave the Scots a 25-23 set win.

The visitors jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set but Monmouth caught up at 5-all when Savannah Robinson (Delavan, Illinois) delivered an ace. She added another ace for a 6-5 lead and kills from Wright and Russell pushed the Monmouth lead to 10-6. The Scots extended the lead to five at 14-9 and 15-10 before the Foresters went on a run to close within one. The set was tied at 20-20 when Russell and Wright picked up kills for a Monmouth lead. The Scots led 23-21 on another kill by Wright but Lake Forest won four straight points to steal the set at 25-23.

The third set started with an ace from Russell and then a kill from Alana Robertson (Mapleton, Illinois). Wright had an ace for a 4-1 lead before Lake Forest won six of the next seven points. Monmouth pulled even at 10-10 and won the next two points on Russell's serve. The set was tied twice before Lake Forest won five of six points to take the lead. Monmouth pulled within two at 23-21 and 24-22 but the Foresters closed out the set with a kill.

The fourth set had only one lead change. Monmouth led 1-0 and 2-1 but Lake Forest went on a run early in the set to take control. They led 7-5 and won five points in a row before eventually leading 16-9. They won seven points in a row to lead 23-10 before the Scots went on a run to extend the match. Nizzia and Russell had kills but Lake Forest got a sideout at 24-15 and finished off the match with a kill.

Wright led the Scots with 11 kills while Nizzia and Russell both had eight. Robertson had 22 assists and Bailey Hill (East Alton, Illinois) added 12. Robinson, Wright and Nizzia all had 11 digs. Wright had four aces while Robinson and Russell had two each.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Russell hit .500 for the match and Wright hit .455. Wright had an 11-dig, 11-kill double-double. Both teams had five blocks. Lake Forest had 11 aces to Monmouth's eight but they also had four more service errors. The match featured 20 ties and nine lead changes. The Scots host Knox at 7 p.m. on Wednesday with Block Out Cancer Night with fans encouraged to wear pink.