Volleyball Splits Two Matches on Friday

Scots Beat Luther, Fall to Augie in Viking Classic

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (09/17/2022) — The Monmouth College volleyball team went 1-1 in the Viking Classic on Friday at Augustana. The Scots beat Luther in four sets in the opener and lost to the hosts 3-1 in the nightcap.

Luther opened the first set with a 6-2 lead before the Scots went on a rally to lead 11-8. After Luther caught up at 12, the Norse took the lead up to 19-12, winning 10 points in a row. The Scots got back within three at 22-19 and took their second timeout down 23-19. Luther finished off the set at 25-20 with Layne Wright (Davenport, Iowa) leading the Scots with four kills.

Monmouth jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set before the Norse won seven of the next eight points for an 8-5 lead. The teams went back and forth throughout the set and it was tied again at 22-22. Luther served for the set twice before the Scots took a 26-25 lead. Monmouth won the set with an ace from Lauryn Jeffries (Lakeland, Florida) to even the match 1-1.

Monmouth got off to a good start in the third set with a 5-1 lead. After the score was 7-3, Monmouth won eight of the next 10 points to lead 15-5. The teams traded points before the Scots pushed the lead to 22-9 and eventually 24-10. A kill by CeCe Palladino (Volo, Illinois) won the set at 25-10 and gave Monmouth a 2-1 lead.

Luther took the early lead in the fourth set, going on top 7-4. They led by four on multiple occasions, including 13-9 before Monmouth won four straight points. The Scots took the lead at 17-16 and never trailed again. They pushed the lead to 24-17 on Wright's serve and finished off the match at 25-21 on a Norse error.

Wright led the Scots with 17 kills while Amanda Dybal (Apex, North Carolina) had nine. Palladino and Kenzie Russell (Morton, Illinois) both had eight kills and Sarah LaHood (East Peoria, Illinois) added seven.

Paige Bergschneider (Alexander, Illinois) had 37 assists while Savannah Robinson (Delavan, Illinois) led the Scots with 18 digs. Wright, Russell and Jeffries were also in double-digits in digs and six Scots players had one ace each. LaHood had four blocks while Dybal had three.

In the second match, the Scots jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first set but Augustana won eight of the next nine points. The Vikings pushed the lead from 8-6 to 20-9 and eventually won the opening set 25-11.

The Scots got off to another great start in the second set with an 8-1 lead. After the Vikings won three straight points, the Scots went on a 9-1 run and led 17-5. The lead shrank to six points but the Scots pushed it back up to eight at 21-13 before a big Augustana run closed the gap to 23-20. After a Monmouth timeout, the Vikings made two straight errors and the Scots won the set 25-20.

The Scots started the third set with a 2-0 lead and led 6-5 before Augustana tied the set. The teams went back and forth until the Vikings went on a run and led 16-10. They pushed the lead to 23-12 and won the set 25-14.

Monmouth didn't lead at all in the fourth set as Augustana went on top 2-0 and pushed the lead to 13-4. The Scots got a mini-run in but the Vikings led 20-10 and won the set 25-16 to take the match.

Dybal led the Scots in kills against Augustana with eight while both Wright and LaHood had seven. Bergschneider had 20 assists in the second match and Jeffries had two aces. Robinson led the team with 20 digs, five more than Bergschneider. LaHood had four blocks and Russell had two.

The Scots will play two more games on Saturday in Rock Island. They will face Blackburn College at 10 am and Marian University at 12:30 pm. The Scots are next at home on Friday, Sept. 23 at 7 pm as they open Midwest Conference play against Grinnell.