Volleyball Sweeps MSOE & Knox for 3-0 Weekendd

Scots Serve Up 17 Aces Against Knox

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (09/15/2024) — The Monmouth College volleyball team dominated both matches on Saturday to sweep MSOE and Knox at the Monmouth College Invite. The Scots (6-4) beat MSOE 25-10, 25-12, 25-20 before taking care of Knox 25-15, 25-12, 25-15.

"Game one was a great way to start off the day," said head coach Derrick Broekemier. "I thought everyone that stepped on the court knew the game plan and executed."

Monmouth took control of the first match against MSOE early and never looked back. Layne Wright (Davenport, Iowa) started the match with a kill while both Paige Foltz (Vinton, Iowa) and Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) added kills in the early run. Wright picked up two aces for a 6-2 lead. Lauren Aldrich (Wauconda, Illinois) put the Scots up 12-8 and Melina Teunis (Grand Haven, Michigan) served up two aces in a 4-0 run. Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) served up five straight points as Savannah Robinson (Delavan, Illinois), Wright and Foltz picked up kills for a 21-10 lead. Celus finished off the set with a kill for the 25-10 win.

Celus started the second set with two kills and an ace. Aldrich and Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) added kills and Wright picked up another ace for a 14-7 lead. Celus and Strachan kept racking up kills for an 18-9 lead. Paige Bergschneider (Alexander, Illinois) served seven straight points with two aces to get the Scots a 24-9 lead. MSOE won three straight points before a kill by Celus finished the set at 25-12.

Monmouth trailed briefly early in the third before pulling even at 5-5. The Scots called timeout down 9-5 and then went on a monster run, Makaiha Moore-Bell (Knoxville, Illinois) got a block, Shea Scott (Keosauqua, Iowa) picked up a kill and Alana Robertson (Mapleton, Illinois) gave Monmouth the lead with a kill. Moore-Bell added a kill before Celus got another one for a 12-9 lead. Foltz had a block and Moore-Bell gave Monmouth a 15-12 lead with a kill. Foltz had a kill and an ace before Robertson's kill forced MSOE to call timeout. Moore-Bell gave the Scots a 24-19 lead and Robertson finished off the match at 25-10 with a kill.

Celus led the Scots with 12 kills while Foltz had six, Aldrich had five and Strachan had five. Mattson led Monmouth with 19 assists while Robinson had 15 digs. Wright had three aces and Foltz led the Scots with two blocks.

Scots Sweep Knox

Monmouth remained hot into the night match, jumping out to an 8-1 lead. Celus had two kills early and Wright added an ace. Knox pulled within two at 12-10 but the Scots took the next four points to go back on top by six. Aces from Robinson and Mattson were part of the run as Monmotuh pushed the lead to 10. Celsius added two more kills and an ace by Robinson gave Monmouth a set point. Celus finished off the set with her sixth kill as Monmouth won 25-15.

With Mattson serving, Monmouth started the second set with a 3-0 lead but Knox pulled even/ Two straight aces by Wright put Monmouth on top 6-3 and Foltz added a block. Strachan slammed home a kill and Wright picked up another ace to force a Knox timeout at 9-3. Knox went on a mini-run but Celus got a kill and Wright picked up two more. An ace by Mattson and a kill from Strachan put the Scots on top 20-10. Foltz slammed down an overhit and followed it up with another kill for a 23-11 lead. Celus got another kill and Robinson finished off the set 25-12 with her fourth ace of the night.

The third set was closer early as Monmouth took a 6-3 lead on a kill by Aldrich, Celus added another kill and an ace for an 11-6 lead before Wright picked up a kill. Leading by five, the Scots won two more points on Robinson's serve before Knox called timeout down 16-9. Knox got the sideout but Celus powered home consecutive kills for an 18-10 lead. Bergschneider served an ace.and Celus picked up her 11th kill for a 20-11 lead. Back-to-back kills for Wright gave Monmouth match point at 24-13 but Knox got a sideout. Wright finished off the match at 25-15 with her eighth kill.

"It is always fun to play Knox," said Broekemier. "It is a rivalry and you could feel that in the gym. We had a plan and it was to win the serve and pass battle. We did that as planned and came out of the weekend 3-0."

Celus led the Scots with 11 kills while Wright had eight. Strachan had five kills with four each for Aldrich and Foltz. Mattson had 16 assists and Bergschneider had 12. Wright and Robinson had four aces each while Celus and Mattson had three. Celus led with six digs and both Teunis and Strachan had two blocks.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Against Knox the Scots had 17 aces, tied for fourth in school history for a 3-set match ... Monmouth had 26 aces on the day, seven from Wright ...The Scots got kills from 10 different players against MSOE ... Wright has at least eight kills in nine of 10 matches ... Celus has at least 10 kills in seven of her eight matchesMonmouth hasn't lost to Knox since 2017 ... The Scots and MSOE hadn't met ... The Scots play four matches next weekend at a tournament in LaCrosse, Wisconsin ...They play Macalester and UW-LaCrosse on Friday with matches against Nebraska Wesleyan and Luther on Saturday ... The next home match is against Illinois College on Oct. 11.