The Monmouth College volleyball team won their final home match of the 2022 season in straight sets on Wednesday, defeating Iowa Wesleyan 25-14, 25-21, 25-11. The Scots are now 11-12 on the season with three matches this weekend at the Central College Invite in Iowa.
The Scots broke the first set open after leading 10-8. With Savannah Robinson (Delavan, Illinois) and Paige Bergchneider (Alexander, Illinois) on serve, the Scots won 12 of the next 15 points to lead 22-11. The Tigers used both of their timeouts in that run and the Scots eventually won the set 25-14 on a kill by Amanda Dybal (Apex, North Carolina).
The Tigers jumped out to an early lead in the second set, pushing their advantage to 9-5. Layne Wright (Davenport, Iowa) got consecutive kills to cut the lead to two. Monmouth called timeout down 12-7 and rattled off five straight points to force an IWU timeout. Sarah LaHood (East Peoria, Illinois) got a kill to give the Scots the lead. After trading points to 16-16, Monmouth won four in a row to go on top 20-16 on LaHood’s serve. The Tigers called timeout but the Scots continued their run to go up 23-16. Monmouth couldn’t convert on their first set point but Delaney Scheidenhelm (New Berlin, Illinois) got a kill for a 25-21 set win.
The Scots took the momentum into the third set with leads of 6-3 and 10-5 before IWU called timeout. After two straight points for the Tigers, Monmouth won three in a row on Robinson’s serve to go up 13-7. LaHood made a run on her serve as well, sending the Scots to a 21-11 lead before an IWU timeout. LaHood kept the points rolling and the Scots got match point at 24-11. LaHood finished off the match, and the home portion of her senior career, in style with her second ace of the night for the 25-11 win.
Dybal, also playing her last home match, led the Scots with 11 kills while LaHood and Wright both had nine. Scheidenhelm had five kills and CeCe Palladino (Volo, Illinois) had two. Bergschneider assisted on 34 of the Scots 36 kills and added 13 digs. Robinson led the Scots with 20 digs while Wright had 16. LaHood and Scheidenhelm both had three blocks while Robinson, Wright and LaHood all had two aces.
The Scots will finish the season this weekend at the Central College Invite in Pella, Iowa. Monmouth faces Nebraska Wesleyan at 6 p.m. Friday and Central College at 8 p.m. The Scots play Luther College at 11 a.m. Saturday to finish the season.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
