Volleyball Season Ends at MWC Tournament

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, ill. (11/11/2026) — The Monmouth College volleyball team ended their season in the 4/5 game of the Midwest Conference Tournament on Tuesday with a 3-0 loss at Illinois College. The Fighting Scots (9-17) fell 25-18, 25-18, 27-25 while the Lady Blues advance to Friday's semifinals at Cornell.

The Scots fell behind 5-0 before IC made a service error to get Monmouth on the board. Melina Teunis (Grand Haven, Michigan) had a kill and Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) added a block but IC went back up by five at 9-4. The Scots trailed 13-6 when Abby Viano (Braidwood, Illinois) and Brianna Carden (Pecatonica, Illinois) picked up kills. Celus and Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) had kills and Kami Barth (Washington, Illinois) served an ace to make it 15-11. Teunis had three kills and Celus added another in a 5-2 Monmouth run. The Scots couldn't pull even though as IC took the next three points to lead 20-16. They finished the set on an 8-2 run to win 25-18.

Strachan had a block to win the first point of the second set but IC won the next three points. Strachan had a kill as the teams traded points before IC won three straight to lead 8-4. Carden and Celus had kills and Viano added a block with IC leading 12-9. A block from Teunis pulled the Scots within two but the Lady Blues won the next two points. Out of a timeout, Monmouth again pulled within two before IC got the lead out to 18-13. Teunis had a kill for a 19-17 set but IC finished on a 6-1 run to again win 25-18.

The Scots again started down 5-0 in the third set before getting a point on an IC service error. Teunis had a kill to make it 7-3 and Carden made it 10-5 with a kill. Down 14-5, Strachan and Celus had back-to-back blocks during a 5-2 Monmouth run. Strachan added a kill and shared a block with Viano as the Scots cut the IC lead to five. Celus had a kill and Teunis added a block but IC answered to lead 19-14. Isa Hughes (Chicago, Illinois) dumped kill and served an ace before Carden added a kill. Down 22-18 the Scots won three straight points on errors but couldn't pull even. The teams traded points and Monmouth finally pulled even at 23 on an ace by Hannah Ivancho (O'Fallon, Missouri). An error by IC gave the Scots their first lead of the set at 24-23 but IC got a kill to tie the set. The Scots again had a set point at 25-24 but IC won the next three points to finish the match.

Teunis led the Scots with six kills while Carden had five. Hughes had 16 assists, six digs and an ace while Barth had eight digs and an ace. Strachan had three blocks while Celus, Teunis and Viano each had two.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) earned the Midwest Conference Elite 20 Award with a 4.0 GPA ,,, The Elite 20 Award recognizes the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average (GPA) competing at the culminating championship or tournament site of their respective sport ... The Lady Blues lead the all-time series 35-29 and won at Monmouth 3-1 in October ... The teams have met nine times previously at the MWC Tournament but not since 2006 ... IC leads those meetings 5-4 ... The Scots haven't won at the MWC Tournament since 2007 when the won two matches before falling to Carroll in the final ... Teunis moved into a tie for sixth on the career total blocks list, matching Riley Cook with 214 ... She is also the seventh to have 100 total blocks in a single season and is tied for sixth with 30 solo blocks in a season ... Celus led the Scots this season with 304 kills and 44 aces ... Hughes led the team with 352 assists ... Barth led the way with 307 digs ... Teunis led the team with 100 blocks, 30 solo and 70 assist ... Barth, Celus and Teunis played in all 92 sets this season ... Strachan and Carden also played in all 26 matches