The Monmouth College volleyball team split matches on Saturday at the Illinois College Invitational. The Scots (4-7) opened with a 5-set win over Kenyon College before falling to Nebraska Wesleyan in five. 

"We fought hard today and I'm very proud of the effort and how we didn't give up ," said head coach Hope Neargarder. 

Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) posted the first kill of the day and added an ace for a 3-1 lead against Kenyon. Alana Robertson (Mapleton, Illinois) had two kills and Celus added another as the Scots stayed on top. A kill by Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois)  and two from Brynn Hogan (Galena, Missouri) pushed the Monmouth lead to 18-13. Hogan served an ace and a kill by Leah Allan (Oconto, Wisconsin) made it 23-16. Allan finished off the first set at 25-17 with another kill. 

Celus had two early kills in the second set and the teams traded points early. Kenyon pulled away from 8-7 to 13-9 and maintained their lead through the middle part of the set. They went on another run after a kill by Allan to lead 22-15. Hogan got a kill but the Owls won the next three points to take the set. 

Celus, Allan and Robertson posted kills early in the second set for a 4-2 lead. Strachan and Melina Teunis (Grand Haven, Michigan) added kills and the Scots went up 10-7. With Bailey Hill (East Alton, Illinois) serving, the lead grew to five and Celus had an ace and a kill for a 15-8 lead. The Scots took the next five points to lead 20-8 and they won the set 25-13 on another Celus kill. 

In the fourth set, the Owls took a 3-0 lead and pushed it to 11-4. Monmouth rallied with a block by Teunis and five kills from Celus to get within one at 13-12. Hogan had an ace and the Scots tied the set at 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21. Kenyon went up by two but kills from Celus and Robertson tied the set at 24. A kill by Shea Scott (Keosauqua, Iowa) put the Scots up 26-25 but the Owls took the next three to win the set 28-26.

Monmouth called a timeout in the fifth set after falling behind 4-1. Teunis, Hogan and Hill had kills before Zoe Nizzia (Pekin, Illinois) served an ace to tie the set. Celus had two kills for an 8-6 lead before ties at 9, 11 and 13. Teunis had a block to get a match point and Kenyon called timeout. Scott finished off the match with a kill, off an assist by Robertson.

Celus led the Scots with 23 kills while Robertson had 15 and Hogan had 11. Hill had 31 assists and Robertson added 23. Nizzia had 24 digs while Celus added 17. Hogan led with three aces, one more than Celus, and Teunis had six blocks, 

Vs. Nebraska Wesleyan

Celus had a kill and Allan added an ace to start the match against UNW. Two more kills from Celus kept the Scots on top but UNW went on a 14-point run to lead 23-10. Robertson ended the run with a kill but the first set went to UNW 25-12. 

The Scots came out strong in the second set with kills from Allan and Strachan plus an ace by Hogan. Robertson and Teunis added kills and Scott made it 8-6 with a kill/ The teams traded points through most of the set until Nizzia served an ace for a 21-19 lead. Kills from Teunis and Celus made it 24-19 and Celus finished off the set at 25-20 with another kill. 

Monmouth rode the momentum into the third set and kills by Scott, Teunis, Strachan and Celus put the Scots up 10-8. Celus and Hogan added kills as did Scott and Robertson as the lead grew to three at 18-15. Robertson's kill made it 21-17 but UNW rallied to tie the set at 22. With Tayler Raska (Galesburg, Illinois) serving, Celus had a kill for set point and a block by Teunis and Celus finished off the set at 25-22. 

UNW took control of the fourth set early with leads of 7-1 and 9-5. The Scots couldn't get closer than five as a 4-0 run made it 20-11 and the set finished at 25-19. 

The fifth set opened with UNW leading 4-1 before the Scots got a kill from Teunis and two errors to pull within one. UNW led 9-4 when Celus had a kill and Hill served an ace. The Scots trailed 9-8 but UNW won five of the next six points to lead 14-9. Three straight errors kept Monmouth alive at 14-12 but a kill finished off the match at 15-12. 

Celus had 15 kills in the match while Scott and Robertson both had eight. Robertson had 18 assists and Hill delivered 15. Nizzia had 14 digs, one more than Celus, while Raska had 11. Teunis led the Scots with five blocks, 

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Celus had a season-high 23 kills against Kenyon…Robertson posted a career-high 15 kills against Kenyon, six more than she had on Oct. 1, 2024…Hogan had a career-high 11 kills against Kenyon, five more than her previous best…Hill's 31 assists are a career high and Nizzia had a career-high 24 digs…Scott had a career-best eight kills against UNW, while Raska had a career-high 11 digs…Teunis had 11 blocks on the day…The Kenyon match had 25 ties and 13 lead changes while the UNW match had 24 ties and 12 lead changes…The Scots are 2-3 in 5-set matches this season…The Scots had never faced Kenyon…Monmouth is 1-6 all-time against Nebraska Wesleyan, including a 5-set loss last year…The Scots head to Rock Island, Illinois next Saturday for matches against Luther and Augustana.