The Monmouth College volleyball team swept rival Knox on Wednesday for their fifth straight win in the series. The Scots (8-9, 2-1) took the match 25-20, 25-21, 25-16 with 14 kills from both Layne Wright (Davenport, Iowa) and Amanda Dybal (Apex, North Carolina).
The opening set was tight with nine ties and seven lead changes. Knox took a 14-10 lead and Wright had a kill to side out and get Kenzie Russell (Morton, Illinois) on serve. Monmouth ran the lead to 16-14 with six straight points including two more Wright kills and an ace from Russell. The set was tied twice before Dybal had a kill and errors pushed Monmouth’s lead to 22-18. Zoe Nizzia (Pekin, Illinois) eventually put the set away with a kill at 25-20.
“We started a little rocky but every single time we came to the huddle it was focused on bettering the next point and playing the best volleyball we could,” said head coach Derrick Broekemier.
Knox won the first three points of the second set and also led 6-3 and 10-7. Monmouth took the lead at 11-10 after two kills from Wright and another by Dybal. After a tie at 12-12, Monmouth won five straight points and never looked back. Dybal, Wright and Nizzia had kills to push the lead to 24-21 and Wright finished the set with a kill.
Knox scored first in the third set but the Scots took the next five points and never trailed. Dybal had seven kills in the third set while Nizzia and Wright added four each as Monmouth steadily pulled away. The Scots lead 20-10 before a mini run from Knox but an ace from Russell finished the match at 25-16.
“Amanda played great today hitting over .400 and was a huge part of our win today,” said Broekemier. “Layne and Zoe got great opportunities to put the ball away too.”
Wright and Dybal led the Scots with 14 kills each while Nizzia added 10. Bailey Hill (east Alton, Illinois) had 20 assists and Alana Robertson (Mapleton, Illinois) had 19. Savannah Robinson (Delavan, Illinois) led the Scots with 16 digs while Wright had 15 and Nizzia 12. Russell had two aces and Wright had two solo blocks.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Dybal had only one attack error and hit .419 for the match. Wright had an 15-dig, 14-kill double-double and Nizzia added a double-double. Monmouth had six blocks. The Scots have won five straight against Knox, four of those in sweeps. The Scots host Greenville at 6 p.m. on Friday with Alumni Night as part of Homecoming Weekend.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
