The Monmouth College volleyball team started Midwest Conference play with a 5-set win at Ripon on Friday night. The Fighting Scots (4-10, 1-0) dropped the first set before rallying to beat Ripon (5-11, 0-1) 24-26, 25-18, 27-25, 15-25, 15-12.
Melina Teunis (Grand Haven, Michigan) had a kill to tie the first set at 2-2 and
Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) added a kill for the first Monmouth lead. After two Ripon points,
Bri Woodard (Monmouth, Illinois) tied the set at four with a kill and Teunis had three kills in a 4-1 Monmouth run. Woodard,
Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) and
Abby Viano (Braidwood, Illinois) each had kills as the Scots led 11-9. Teunis picked up a block, Woodard added a kill and Celus served an ace for a 15-11 lead. The teams traded points and Celus picked up a kill for a 19-14 lead and she added another kill for a 21-17 lead. After Ripon's final timeout, a block from Strachan and Teunis plus a kill by Teunis put the Scots up 23-18. Ripon won the next two points to force a Monmouth timeout. Teunis had another kill for set point but Ripon won four straight points for a 24-24 tie. Monmouth called their last timeout but Ripon delivered two straight kills to steal the set 26-24 with the final six points. Teunis had six kills in the opening set while Woodard added four.
Celus started the second set with a kill while both Strachan and Teunis added kills in a 4-1 opening run.
Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) snuck in a kill and Ripon called timeout with the score at 7-1. After five straight points on the serve of
Kami Barth (Washington, Illinois), Ripon got a sideout. Woodard had two straight kills and Teunis added another for a 12-3 lead. The teams traded points with kills from
Brianna Carden (Pecatonica, Illinois) and Viano putting the Scots up 16-8. Strachan had two kills while Viano and Celus had kills for a 20-11 lead. Ripon won three straight points to force a Monmouth timeout. The Red Hawks had a serving error to end their own run before kills by Teunis and Carden made it 23-14. Teunis had another kill and Monmouth finished off the second set at 25-18 on a kill by Woodard.
The teams went back and forth early in the third set with Teunis picking up two kills and Carden adding one. An ace by Celus put the Scots up 6-4 and Woodard added two kills. Strachan had a kill and a block for a 10-7 lead and kills from Celus and Mattson increased the lead to three. Teunis added another kill and
Isa Hughes (Chicago, Illinois) served an ace for a 15-10 advantage. Celus added a kill and two by Woodard kept the Scots on top but Ripon eventually tied the set at 21. Woodard had the next two Monmouth kills but the hosts took leads at 23-22, 24-23 and 25-24. Strachan saved set point with a kill and Celus finished off the set with another kill at 27-25.
Celus and Teunis had early kills in the fourth set but Ripon recovered to lead 5-2. Kills by Teunis and Woodard plus the 100th ace of Celus' career pulled the Scots within one at 7-6. Monmouth won the next two points on errors to lead but Ripon won the next seven points to lead 14-8. Viano, Carden and Strachan picked up kills but Ripon matched Monmouth point for point and pushed the lead to 19-11. Strachan had the last two kills for the Scots in the set as Ripon cruised to a 25-15 win to force a deciding set.
A block from Celus and Teunis started the fifth set and after two Ripon points, Strachan tied it with a kill. Down 3-2, Teunis had two straight kills and Woodard added one for a 6-3 Monmouth lead. After a Ripon timeout, kills by Teunis and Woodard plus a Ripon error made it 9-3. Ripon won five of the next six points to cut the Monmouth lead to 10-8. After a Scots timeout, Ripon won the next two points to tie the set before a service error put Monmouth up 11-10. Strachan delivered a kill for a 12-11 lead and Viano's block made it 13-12. Celus made it 14-12 with a kill and an error by Ripon finished the match with Monmouth winning 24-26, 25-18, 27-25, 15-25, 15-12.
Teunis led four players in double digit kills with a career-high 19 and also led the Scots with six blocks. Woodard had a career-high 17 kills while Celus had 11 and Strachan had 10. Hughes had a career-high 32 assists while Mattson had 23. Barth had a career-high 32 digs while Celus added 25,
Tayler Raska (Galesburg, Illinois) had a career-high 17 and Hughes added 16. Celus led the team with three aces and Strachan added four blocks.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Celus has at least 10 kills in nine of the last 10 matches…She is the 10th player in Monmouth history with at least 100 aces in the rally-scoring era (2001-present) and the 18th overall…Barth, Celus, Raska and Hughes all had career-highs in digs…Teunis and Woodard had career-highs in kills…Hughes had a career-high in assists…Hughes and Celus both had double-doubles…Teunis hit .365 on the match…The Scots are 3-0 in 5-set matches this season…The match had 24 ties and 13 lead changes…The Scots had four aces and 10 service errors…Monmouth leads the all-time series 21-15 with four straight wins…The Scots play at 1 p.m. Saturday at Lawrence…The next home game is Friday, October 9 against Illinois College.
