Volleyball Falls Twice on Friday

by Nathan baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill (09/16/2023) — The Monmouth College volleyball team lost twice on Friday at the Loras Invite in Dubuque, Iowa. The Scots pushed host Loras to four sets in an opening 25-14, 23-25, 25-16, 25-15 loss and then fell to Central 25-16, 25-16, 25-15.

The Scots jumped out to the lead in the first set, going on top 4-1 with kills from Amanda Dybal (Apex, North Carolina) and Bailey Hill (East Alton, Illinois). Loras scored four in a row to lead 6-5 and after a 6-6 tie, the hosts pushed the lead to 13-6. Monmouth cut the gap to four but Loras pulled away for a 25-14 opening set win.

The second set was back-and-forth with neither team leading by more than two points until the Scots went on top 13-10 on a block by Dybal. An ace by Savannah Robinson (Delavan, Illinois) made it 16-13 and the Scots went up by four on a block from Kenzie Russell (Morton, Illinois). A kill from Layne Wright (Davenport, Illinois) made it 20-17 and she picked up another kill for a 22-19 lead. Loras tied the game at 22 and again at 23. Alana Robertson (Mapleton, Illinois) got a kill for a 24-23 lead and Delaney Scheidenhelm (New Berlin, Illinois) closed out the set with a kill.

Monmouth won the first point of the third set but Loras took a 4-1 lead and never trailed again. They pushed the lead to 13-7 and 18-10 with two mini runs. CeCe Palladino (Volo, Illinois) recorded two kills but Loras responded to take the next five points and win the set 25-16.

The fourth set started with the trading of points and a 6-6 tie. Dybal and Palladino got kills to keep the Scots close at 10-9 but Loras scored the next three points and then pushed the lead to 17-13. They steadily pulled away from there and won the set 25-15 to win the match.

Wright led the team with 10 kills while Dybal had eight and Palladino had five. Robinson had 21 digs and an ace while Wright added 11 digs. Robertson led the team with 16 assists while adding 12 digs and HIll had nine assists with six digs. Zoe Nizzia (Pekin, Illinois) had two aces for the Scots.

In the match against Central, the Scots took a 3-0 lead in the opening set but the Dutch responded to win six of the next seven points. Wright had an ace and the Scots regained the lead at 8-7 and pushed the lead to 10-8. Central went on a 7-0 run and at 16-12 they won five points in a row. Central put the set away with a kill to win 25-16.

Central took a 4-0 lead in the second set and never trailed in another 25-16 set. The third set was tied 4-4 and Dybal's block gave Monmouth a lead. An ace from Robinson pushed the lead to 7-4 and the Scots extended the lead to 9-5. Central used another 7-0 run to take the lead and they went up 17-11 before Dybal got a kill. The Dutch responded with another 4-0 run and won the match on a kill.

Wright had four kills against Central and Russell had three. Wright also led the team with nine digs while Robertson had eight assists and Russell delivered two aces.
The Scots have two matches at The Loras invite on Saturday. They face St. Mary's (Minn) at 10 a.m. and St. Scholastica.