by Nathan Baliva
MONMOUTH, ILL. (11/08/2025) The Monmouth College volleyball team won at Ripon College 3-1 on Saturday to clinch a return trip to the Midwest Conference Tournament. With a 6-2 mark in the conference, Monmouth tied for second place with Lawrence and will be the No. 3 seed in next weekend’s MWC Tournament.
“I’m very proud of how far we have come as a team,” said head coach Hope Neargarder. “These girls have worked hard all season so winning today to clinch a spot for next weekend is a great feeling. We are going to celebrate this weekend and then get back to work on Monday.”
The first set went back and forth early before Monmouth took control with a run to lead 15-10. Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois), Melina Teunis (Grand Haven, Michigan) and Lauren Aldrich (Wauconda, Illinois) all had kills on the run with Leah Allan (Oconto, Wisconsin) serving. A kill by Bri Woodard (Monmouth, Illinois) kept the Scots up 20-15 Woodard had another kill and Teunis added two more before Monmouth won the set 25-18 on an error by Ripon.
The second set was even tighter as the Scots got early kills from Celus, Aldsrich and Brynn Hogan (Galena, Missouri) but couldn’t pull away. Teunis had an ace for a 17-15 lead and Ripon used both timeouts in a three-point span. Alana Robertson (Mapleton, Illinois) had a kill and Celus made it 21-16 with an ace. Two more kills by Robertson finished off the set at 25-19.
Ripon won the third set 25-21 and won the opening point of the fourth set before the Scots took over. Kills by Celus and Aldrich plus an ace by Zoe Nizzia (Pekin, Illinois) put Monmouth up 9-4. Aldrich had two straight kills and Robertson delivered an ace for a 16-6 lead. Kills by Celus and Woodard made it 22-14 and Celus served an ace. Two straight Ripon errors ended the match as the Scots won the final five points to take the fourth set 25-14.
Celus led the Scots with 12 kills while Aldrich had nine. Bailey Hill (East Alton, Illinois) led the way with 23 assists while Robertson had 19. Celus had three aces while Allan, Teunis and Nizzia each had two. Nizzia led the team with 20 digs while Teunis had six blocks.
The Scots will play Lawrence in the first semifinal on Friday at the MWC Tournament, hosted by Cornell. Cornell will play Illinois College in the other semi. Lawrence beat Monmouth in a 5-set thriller on Oct. 18. Friday’s match begins at 4:30 p.m.
***Photo and story courtesy of Monmouth College Athletics***
