It will be an opportunity for second chances when the Monmouth College volleyball team enters this weekend’s Midwest Conference Tournament in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.
      The Fighting Scots (19-10) suffered just three league losses this season, all coming against the rest of the tournament field. Monmouth –seeded fourth – opens with league champion Cornell (18-10) Friday night, with the winner meeting either No. 2 seed St. Norbert (23-8) or No. 3 Lake Forest (17-9) Saturday afternoon for the tournament title and the automatic NCAA tournament berth.
      The Rams handled the Scots in straight sets in Monmouth’s conference season opener on Sept. 11. St. Norbert then interrupted the Scots’ four-match MWC win streak, dropping Monmouth in straight sets two weeks ago. Lake Forest stayed alive in the league race by handing Monmouth a five-set loss last Friday. That win eventually gave the Foresters the No. 3 seed and dropped the Scots to the fourth seed.
      Coach Kari Shimmin is drawing on past experience to prep her team for the tournament weekend.
      “We’ve been the first-round underdogs before and got to the championship match,” said Shimmin. “We know we didn’t play our best the first time against either Cornell or St. Norbert. Our focus for Friday is to put forth our very best effort. Cornell hasn’t seen our very best and our women are excited to show it to them.”
      Cornell has rolled through the MWC season. Only Ripon was able to go more than three sets against the Rams. Cornell also boasts a league-best .213 hitting percentage, and they have two players – Taylor Dicus and Katie Sikelka – ranked in the MWC’s top five for hitting percentage.
      Monmouth hasn’t been quiet at the net, either, with a .209 hitting percentage. Senior Chelsey Widdop has been the Scots’ big gun, averaging 3.77 kills and 3.41 digs per set – both team highs.
      “We need to play with confidence,” said Shimmin. “We’ll need to have good passes and aggressive serves. We had early unforced errors against Lake Forest last week and we can’t have those this weekend.”
      If the Scots can get past Cornell, they’ll get another shot at either Lake Forest or St. Norbert. The Foresters have Molly McCloskey – the MWC kills per set leader – to deal with, while St. Norbert has the league’s top player in hitting percentage in Danielle Remy (.282).
      “Lake Forest is in a similar situation as we are,” suggested Shimmin. “The records clearly show that Cornell and St. Norbert are entering the tournament as the two favorites. If our team and Lake Forest can duplicate that high-level intensity we had for our match last week, we could see an upset or two.”
      The Scots really don’t care which team they play on Saturday, as long as Monmouth is in the mix.