Volleyball Wins Both Matches in Ohio on Friday

Celus, Wright Lead Scots to 2-0 Opening Day

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (08/31/2024) — The Monmouth College volleyball team began the 2024 season with two wins at the Great Lakes Cross Over event in Sandusky, Ohio on Friday. The Scots started the day with a 3-1 win (31-29, 25-23, 21-25, 25-18) over Bluffton University and capped the day with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-15) sweep of Waynesburg.

"It was a great start for MCVB," said head coach Derrick Broekemier. "I thought we had some great moments and obviously there are things to work on, but we know the goals this season and 2-0 is a start we talked about."

The Scots took the first point of the match as freshman Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) set up freshman Lauren Aldrich (Wauconda, Illinois) for a kill. The teams went back-and-forth with neither leading by more than two. Paige Foltz (Vinton, Iowa), Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) and Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) picked up their first Monmouth kills and the Scots led 10-9 when Melina Teunis (Grand Haven, Michigan) also got her first kill.

Senior Layne Wright (Davenport, Iowa) produced three straight kills and Celus added another as the lead extended to 17-13. The Beavers went on a 5-0 run to lead 18-17 before Mattson picked up a kill to even the set. Celus had Monmouth's next two kills to tie the set at 20 and an error put the Scots on top 21-20. After two straight points from the Beavers, Wright tied the set at 22 with a kill and again tied it at 23 with another kill. The Beavers had set points at 24-23 and 25-24 but couldn't put the Scots away. Savannah Robinson (Delavan, Illinois) served an ace for a 26-25 Monmouth lead but Bluftton got a side out to tie the set again. Celus tied the set at 27 and again at 28 with kills. Wright put the Scots up 30-29 with a kill on an assist by Paige Bergschneider (Alexander, Illinois) and Teunis finished off the set with an ace at 31-29.

The second set was tight early with multiple ties until the Scots took a 14-11 lead with Teunis on serve for a 5-0 run. Aldrich had two kills and Celus added another as the Scots built the lead to 21-17. Bluffton cut the lead to one and the Scots called timeout before getting a sideout. An attack error gave the Scots the set win at 25-23.

Mattson started the third set with an ace and the Scots led 3-0 as Aldrich added a kill. Wright and Celus picked up kills but the Scots trailed 11-7. Wright picked up another kill and Foltz added one as well but Bluffton responded for a 16-11 lead, Foltz picked up a kill and Robinson changed the momentum with three service aces in four points as the Beavers used both timeouts. Celus made it a 6-0 run with a kill for a 17-16 Monmouth lead. The Beavers responded and tied the match at 19, taking the lead and pushing it to 22-19. A kill by Wright got the Scots back on serve but Bluffton won the set 25-21.

Monmouth jumped out to a 2-0 and 8-2 lead in the fourth set. Robinson had another ace and Celus added a pair of kills. Wright gave the Scots an 11-4 lead with a kill and Foltz pushed the lea to eight with a kill. Celus had two kills in a run for the Scots to lead 16-8. Bluffton got within four at 20-16 before Aldirch had two straight kills. Celus gave the Scots match point with her 20th kill and the freshman finished the win with another kill.

Celus led the Scots with 21 kills while Wright added 13 and Aldrich had nine. Mattson led the Scots with 23 assists and Bergschneider had 18. Robinson had five of Monmouth's 11 aces and she added 11 digs. Wright had 16 digs and Mattson had 11.

GAME TWO

The Scots started game two on the back foot with Waynesburg leading 2-0, 4-2 and 6-4. Strachan had a kill to tie the set, Wright added a kill and Teunis picked up an ace for a 9-6 lead in a 5-0 run. Celus had a kill and Robinson picked up another ace for a 16-13 lead. The Yellow Jackets tied the set at 18 before Teunis served up another ace. Wright's kill gave Monmouth a 23-20 lead and Celus finished off the set with a kill.

Monmouth lost the first point of the second set but Bergschneider had two straight aces for a 5-4 lead. Two kills from Wright and another by Strachan gave Monmouth a 10-5 lead. Mattson had three straight aces for a 19-7 lead and the Scots pulled away from there. A kill by Celus set up a set point and Wright finished off a 25-13 set win.

Wright won the first point of the fourth set with a kill and Mattson's ace made it 2-0. Monmouth led 6-2 before the Yellow Jackets grabbed three straight points. After the set was tied 10-10, Monmouth won four straight points on Wright's serve. Aldrich had a pair of kills and Shea Scott (Keosauqua, Iowa) added a kill for a 20-13 lead. Celus had an ace and Wright gave the Scots match point with a kill. Waynesburg's error on a Mattson serve gave the Scots a 3-0 sweep for the match.

Wright led the Scots with 10 kills against Waynesburg while Celus had seven. Bergschneider led with 16 assists and Mattson added 13. Mattson had four aces with Teunis adding three. Robinson led the Scots with nine digs.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: The Scots started five freshmen in Aldrich, Celus, Foltz Mattson and Teunis ... Strachan also made her collegiate debut ... The first set had 22 ties and 12 lead changes ... Wright needs 6 kills for 700 in her career, the 15th player to reach the milestone ... Monmouth hit .349 in the marathon first set with 17 kills and only two errors ... Celus had 28 kills on the day while Wright had 23 ... Monmouth had 14 aces in three sets against Waynesburg and 25 on the day ...The tournament continues on Saturday ... The Scots will play host Heidelberg at 9 am CT and PSU-Behrend at 1 pm CT.

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