Volleyball Sweeps Eureka for Fifth Straight Win

MWC Opener set for Friday

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (09/27/2023) — The Monmouth College volleyball team won their fifth match in a row with a sweep of Eureka College on the road Wednesday night. Monmouth took the match 25-17, 15-16, 25-17 to head into Midwest Conference with an overall record of 6-8. .

Monmouth jumped out to a 4-0 lead as Layne Wright (Davenport, Iowa) got two kills and Alana Robertson (Mapleton, Illinois) had one. Eureka pulled even at 7-7 and the Scots won the next three points. A kill from CeCe Palladino (Volo, Illinois) made it 13-9 and Kenzie Russell (Morton, Illinois) added a kill for 14-10. Bailey Hill (East Alton, Illinois) had an ace and a kill from Amanda Dybal (Apex, North Carolina) extended the lead. Wright and Robertson both had aces and Monmouth won the opening set 25-17 on an error from the Red Devils.

The teams traded points early in the second set and neither team led by more than two until the Scots used a 6-0 run to take an 11-6 lead. Wright and Robertson had kills in that run while Hill had two aces. An ace by Russell and a kill from Dybal gave Monmouth a 14-8 lead but the Red Devils responded with a 5-0 run. The Scots finally got a sideout and Zoe Nizzia (Pekin, Illinois) got a kill for a 16-13 lead. Still up three, Monmouth got kills from Russell and Palladino before Wright's kill made it 21-16. The Scots closed out the set with two kills from Wright and two errors from Eureka.

Down early in the third set, Monmouth took a 4-3 lead on an ace from Robertson. The teams traded points and Eureka went on a run for an 11-8 lead. Monmouth answered with a run of their own and took a 13-11 lead as Hill had an ace and Wright grabbed another kill. Robertson's kill extended the lead to four at 17-13 and Nizzia made it 18-14. She added two more kills for a 21-14 lead and then added another for a 23-14 lead. Eureka scored the next three before Dybal got a kill and the match ended on an error from Eureka.

Wright led the Scots with 11 kills while both Dybal and Nizzia had seven. Robertson had 16 assists and Hill added 14. Hill led the Scots with four aces and Robertson had two. Wright had 11 digs, Savannah Robinson (Delavan, Illinois) had nine and Nizzia had seven. Robertson led the Scots with four block assists and Wright had three.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Wright hit .375 and Dybal hit .389 in the match. Neither Russell nor Robertson had attack errorsWright had an 11-dig, 11-kill double-double after being named MWC Defensive Performer of the Week on Tuesday. Monmouth has won five matches in a row. The last three wins were all against SLIAC teams. The Scots are 47-15 all-time against Eureka. The Scots have won eight straight in the series dating back to a loss in 2016. The last four matches have been 3-0 sweeps. The teams play again in Monmouth on Oct. 31The Scots host Ripon in the MWC opener at 7 p.m. Friday with a Pack the Place promotion. Monmouth hosts Lake Forest at 1 p.m. Saturday.