Volleyball Splits Two Matches in Indiana

Bergschneider reaches 1500 career assists

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (09/29/2024) — The Monmouth College volleyball team split two matches in Indiana on Saturday as they beat host Rose-Hulman in four sets before falling to Anderson University in five sets. The Fighting Scots (10-7) have one match remaining before Midwest Conference play starts on Friday.

The Scots and Engineers traded points early in the first set until Monmouth used a 4-point run to grab a 9-5 lead. Kalyee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) had three aces and Layne Wright (Davenport, Iowa) had a kill during that stretch. Three more kills by Wright kept the Scots on top until Rose-Hulman pulled even at 14. Wright had an ace and Celus grabbed a kill to put the Scots back on top. The teams went back-and-forth with Rose-Hulman grabbing leads at 20-19 and 21-20 before tying the match at 22, 24, 25 and 26. Celus gave the Scots set point with a kill and an error gave Monmouth the set at 28-26.

Rose-Hulman jumped out to an early lead in set two and pushed their advantage to five on multiple occasions. The Scots rallied back as Paige Bergschneider (Alexander, Illinois) went over 1500 career assists. Two straight errors tied the set at 19 and Monmouth took the lead with Alana Robertson (Mapleton, Illinois) serving. However, the Engineers scored the final three points of the set to win 25-22.

Monmouth trailed by as many as four in the third set and were down 14-11 when Savannah Robinson (Delavan, Illinois) went on a 7-point run on serve. Celus and Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) had kills during the run as Monmouth took an 18-14 lead. The Scots pushed the lead to 20-16 and Celus added an ace. A kill by Wright gave the Scots a 23-19 lead and two straight errors by Rose-Hulman finished the set.

Monmouth took that momentum into the fourth set and sprinted to a 7-1 lead as Wright had three straight aces. Kills by Celus and Lauren Aldrich (Wauconda, Illinois) gave Monmouth a 12-5 lead. Rose-Hulman chipped away and closed the gap to 22-21 before an error gave Monmouth the serve. A kill from Aldrich set up match point and an error by the hosts gave the Scots a 28-26, 25-22, 19-25, 25-23 victory.

Celus led the Scots with 18 kills while Wright had 12. Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) led with 20 assists, three more than Bergschneider. Celus (6) and Wright (5) combined for all 11 of Monmouth's aces. Robinson had 31 digs while Mattson had 21. Paige Foltz (Vinton, Iowa) had five blocks.

Scots Go Distance With Ravens

The Scots fell behind Anderson two sets to none before starting a comeback. The Ravens took the opening set 25-22 and added the second set at 25-21.

The third set bounced back and forth with neither team leading by more than two until Celus and Aldrich got kills to put the Scots up 11-6. Wright had two kills to side out Anderson and then she put up two straight aces for a 21-14 lead. Anderson closed to within three but kills from Foltz and Celus won the set at 25-22.

Monmouth trailed early in the fourth set before a 3-0 run on Robertson's serve. Wright had four kills and added an ace before the Ravens took timeout. Monmouth pushed the lea to four as Bergschneider served an ace and another kill from Wright made it 16-11. The Scots pushed the lead tp 22-14 and eventually won the set 25-20 on a kill from Celus.

Monmouth scored the first two points of the fifth set and jumped to a 7-3 lead on kills from Celus and Robertson. The Ravens won the next four points to pull even and the set was tied 10-10 and 11-11. The Ravens took the lead on a service error and pushed the lead to 14-11 before winning the match at 15-12.

Celus led the Scots with 18 kills, Wright had 17 while both Foltz and Aldrich had eight. Mattson had 29 assists and the Scots got 25 from Bergschneider. Wright had four aces, one more than Bergschneider. Robinson had 23 digs while both Foltz and Robetson had four blocks.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Bergschneider is the eighth player ever to have 1500 career assists in Monmouth history ... She is 62 behind Cindy Erlandson for seventh ... With nine aces on the day, Wright moved into a tie for eighth on the Monmouth list ... She passed Wendy Erlandson, Amy Bender, Colleen Wilkin, and Amanda Boonstra on the weekend to jump from 13th ... Robinson passed Jennifer Tibbe for 13th on the career digs list ... Celus has at least 18 kills in seven straight matches and at least 10 kills in 14 of her 15 matches on the season ... Mattson has at least 20 assists in seven straight matches ...The Scots have already played more 5-set matches (5) than in any season dating back to 2017 when they played 10 5-set matches ... Monmouth is 1-4 in 5-set matches and 5-0 in 4-set matches ... The Scots travel to Augustana on Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. match ,,, The next home match is against Illinois College on Oct. 11.