The Monmouth College volleyball team dropped a hard fought Midwest Conference match on Saturday to Lawrence in five sets. The Fighting Scots (7-12, 1-2) rallied to force a fifth set on Homecoming but eventually the Vikings prevailed 25-22, 25-18, 22-25, 23-25, 15-4

Lawrence jumped out to an early lead in the first set before the Scots came back to pull even. The set featured four ties and three lead changes before the Vikings won 25-22. The second set did not have any lead changes, just three ties as Lawrence won 25-18. 

The Scots fought back and took the third set at 25-22. Monmouth never trailed in the third set and they kept the momentum going early in the fourth as well. The Scots forced a fifth set with a 25-23 win in the fourth to pull even. Lawrence won the first point of the fifth set and never trailed with a 15-4 win. 

Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) led the Scots with 15 kills while Lauren Aldrich (Wauconda, Illinois) had 10. Alana Robertson (Mapleton, Illinois) led the Scots with 30 assists and three blocks while also delivering seven kills. Freshman Bri Woodard (Monmouth, Illinois) came off the bench with six kills and a team-leading two aces. Zoe Nizzia (Pekin, Illinois) and Celus both had 19 digs. 

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Celus has nine matches this season with at least 15 kills and 14 with at least 10…She has three straight matches with at least 15 kills…The Scots have lost their last three home matches on Homecoming (2021, 2023, 2025), two of them in five sets…The Scots are 2-5 in 5-set matches this season...Monmouth is 23-11 all-time against Lawrence and the loss snaps a 5-game win streak in the series…The Scots are back home for their last match in Glennie Gym this season at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Knox.