The Monmouth College volleyball team battled late but lost 3-0 to Millikin in the home opener on Wednesday. The Scots (2-4) led in each of the final two sets but the Big Blue, who were nationally ranked No. 12 to start the year, pulled away for a 25-18, 25-22, 25-19 win.
Down 2-0 in the opening set,
Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) got Monmouth's first kill and
Alana Robertson (Mapleton, Illinois) tied the set with a block. Millikin took leads of 7-4 and 8-5 before
Melina Teunis (Grand Haven, Michigan) delivered a kill.
Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) had a kill to trim the Big Blue lead to 11-9 but an 8-point run gave the visitors a 19-9 lead Robertson served an ace and
Brynn Hogan (Galena, Missouri) added a kill, Teunis had a block and
Leah Allan (Oconto, Wisconsin) picked up a kill but Millikin won the set 25-18,
Down 4-0 to start the second set, Robertson got the Scots on the board with a kill.
Zoe Nizzia (Pekin, Illinois) pulled the Scots to within one with two straight aces before Millikin extended the lead to 10-4. The Scots got even at 11-11 with kills from Teunis and Hogan plus an ace from Celus. The teams traded points as Allan picked up an ace and Monmouth tied the set at 16. The set was tied at 17 and 19 with kills by Robertson and Celus before a Millikin error gave the Scots a 20-19 lead. Celus had another kill for a 21-21 tie before Millikin won three points in a row and closed out a 25-22 set win.
Millikin started the third set with a kill before Strachan responded.
Bri Woodard (Monmouth, Illinois) had her first kill to tie the set at 3-3 and she added another as the Scots went on a 3-0 run to lead 8-4. Celus had an ace in that run but Millikin rallied for a 9-9 tie. Robertson picked up a kill out of a timeout as the Scots trailed 15-11 and Woodard added two more kills. Millikin pushed the lead to 22-16 and Strachan had a kill. Facing match point, Celus kept the Scots alive with a kill but Millikin finished off a 25-19 set and the 3-0 win.
Celus and Woodard led the Scots with five kills each. Robertson had 12 assists and
Bailey Hill (East Alton, Illinois) added 10. Celus had three aces while Nizzia had two. Nizzia led the team with 10 digs and Teunis had two blocks.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Woodard hit .500 with all five of her kills coming in the third set…Celus and Nizzia both have at least two aces in two straight matches…The second set had six ties and two lead changes while the third set had four ties and two lead changes…The Scots had seven players with at least two kills…Millikin leads the all-time series 30-6…The teams had not met since October 2011…The Big Blue reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament last year…The Scots aren't home again until Thursday, Oct. 9 against Central…Monmouth heads to the Wisconsin-LaCrosse Invite this weekend with one match Friday night against Wisconsin-Superior and two matches on Saturday.
