Volleyball Splits Saturday Matches, Finishes 3-1 in Ohio

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill (09/01/2024) — The Monmouth College volleyball team split their final two matches of the Great Lakes Cross Over event in Sandusky, Ohio on Saturday. The Scots lost to host Heidelberg in the morning match 3-0 (26-24, 25-17, 25-20) before beating Penn State Behrend 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-14) to finish the weekend with a 3-1 record.

"We played well again today and it was very nice to see us bounce back in the second match to get a win," said head coach Derrick Broekemier. "We had multiple players step up today and it was great to finish this fantastic event with a victory."

In the nightcap, the Scots and Lions went back and forth early in the first set with 15 ties and seven lead changes. The Lions led 18-16 before Lauren Aldrich (Wauconda, Illinois) got a kill. Zoe Nizzia (Pekin, Illinois) added a kill as did Paige Foltz (Vinton, Iowa) for a 21-20 lead. The Scots eventually took the opening set on a service error by the Lions.

Set two was tight early and Monmouth trailed by as many as three. Foltz and Layne Wright (Davenport, Illinois) delivered kills on three straight points and another kill by Wright tied the set at 11. Aldrich and Wright carried the Scots to a lead before Melina Teunis (Grand Haven, MIchigan) picked up an ace for a 19-15 lead. Makaiha Moore-Bell (Knoxville, Illinois) had a kill for a 21-15 lead and the Scots picked up a kill from Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) to finish off the set at 25-20.

The third set was all Monmouth after the teams split the first eight points. Nizzie served five points in a row with kills by Foltz, Strachan, Savannah Robinson (Delavan, Illinois) and Wright for an 8-4 lead. Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) had an ace in a 3-point run for a 14-7 lead and the Scots never looked back. They extended the lead to 10 on an ace by Nizza and two kills from Strachan pushed the lead to 24-12. PSU won a pair of points before Foltz finished the match with a kill.

Wright led the Scots with 10 kills while Aldrich had seven, Strachan and Foltz both had six. Paige Bergschneider (Alexander, Illinois) and Mattson both had 13 assists while Robinson had 16 digs. The Scots had 11 aces against the Lions with four from Teunis and three from Begschneider.

SCOTS DROP OPENER

The Scots opened the day in the main gym against host Heidelberg. Wright had an early ace for a 2-0 lead and the teams traded points early. Neither led by more than two until the Scots took a 21-18 lead on a Wright kill. The Scots pushed the lead to 22-18 on an ace by Robinson. Strachan's kill made it 24-22 and gave the Scots set point but the Knights won the next four points to steal the set.

Heidelberg jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the second set and never looked back, winning the set 25-17. The third set was much tighter but the Knights gained separation at 9-6 and 12-9. Monmouth fought back to tie the set at 12 on a kill by Foltz. The Knights won the next five points and went on to secure the match with a 25-20 win.

Strachan had 10 kills to lead the Scots while Wright added nine and Aldrich had six. Mattson led the Scots with 16 assists, Robinson had 15 digs and Wright added two aces.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Wright picked up her 700th career kill in the opening match and she is the 15th player to reach the milestone ... Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois), who had 28 kills on Friday, missed the two matches Saturday with a family commitment ... The Scots had 25 aces on Friday and 16 more on Saturday ... The Scots head to Milwaukee, Wisconsin next weekend for an event at Wisconsin Lutheran College ... They open against the hosts on Friday night before facing Dubuque and Wheaton on Saturday ... The home opener is Friday, Sept. 13 at 5 p.m. against Westminster.