The Monmouth College volleyball team bounced back from Friday’s setback with a convincing sweep of Beloit on Saturday afternoon at home. The Fighting Scots (15-9, 4-1) won the match 25-11, 25-17, 25-15 while celebrating Senior Day.
“It was a great way to celebrate the careers our seniors have had here at Monmouth,” said head coach Derrick Broekemier. “We were super excited to play for them today and get them a win on Senior Day.”
Monmouth got an early kill and ace from Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) and a kill by senior
Layne Wright (Davenport, Iowa) to build an 8-2 lead. Savannah Robinson (Delavan, Illinois) served an ace and Paige Foltz (Vinton, Iowa) added a kill for a 10-4 lead. Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) and Celus added kills while Wright picked up an ace for a 15-4 advantage. Foltz had a block and Strachan got a kill after a strong serve by senior Camille Prentiss (Colorado Springs, Colorado) for an 18-7 Monmouth lead. Lauren Aldrich (Wauconda, Illinois) had a kill and a block to give Monmouth set point and Wright finished off the 25-11 set with a kill.
Beloit built a 4-1 lead in the second set before Foltz got a kill. Prentiss served an ace and Celus powered home a kill to cut the Bucs lead to 5-4. Wright had two kills in a row with Robinson serving and Beloit called timeout down 11-7. Foltz, Wright and Celus had kills as the Scots extended the lead to 16-9. Strachan’s kill put the Scots up 18-12 and Celus made it 19-13 before going back to serve. Wright added a kill and a Beloit error put the Scots up 22-14. Kills by Strachan and Wright gave Monmouth a set point and Beloit served the ball out of bounds to end the set at 25-17.
The third set was tight early as Celus and Wright picked up kills with Paige Bergschneider (A. Beloit had an error and Celus served up two straight aces for a 10-7 lead. Alana Robertson (Mapleton, Illinois) picked up a kill and Robinson delivered two aces for a 15-7 lead. Wright and Aldrich slammed down kills and Robinson added two more aces for a 19-7 lead and a 10-point run. Wright’s 11th kill made it 20-9 and with Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) serving, Foltz and Strachan shared a block. Beloit went on a 4-0 run before Foltz’s kill gave Monmouth a 22-13 lead. Strachan’s kill gave the Scots match point and a Beloit error finished the set and match.
“We knew coming into today that serving and passing were the top priorities and we handled that,” said Broekemier. “Serve tough and serve aggressively and that is crucial for us moving forward with Rockford, Knox, Lawrence and Grinnell.”
Wright led the Scots with 11 kills while Celus had eight. Bergschneider had 14 assists and Mattson had 12. Robinson had five aces and Wright added three. Robinson and Celus both had five digs and Foltz had four blocks.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Wright passed Kari Shimmin on both the career kills list and career aces list with her Saturday performance … Wright ranks 8th on the kills list with 952 and fourth on the career aces list with 150 … The top three all have at least 200 aces … Wright has at least 10 kills in 14 matches this season and seven of the last nine … Monmouth had 12 aces … Robinson has three matches this season with five aces … Prentiss had her first career aces … Bergschneider, Prentiss, Robinson and Wright were honored in a pre-game Senior Day ceremony … Derrick Broekemier moved into a tie with Barb Priest for seventh on the Scots coaching wins list with 26 … Monmouth has 15 wins, the most since the 2012 team won 19 … The Scots are 27-8 all-time against Beloit with five straight wins … The Scots play at Rockford at 7 p.m. Tuesday … The final home game of the season is next Saturday at 1 p.m. against Lawrwence.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
