Despite falling 3-1 in a non-conference match Saturday, the Monmouth College volleyball team clinched a berth in the Midwest Conference Tournament. The Fighting Scots (7-15) fell to the UW-La Crosse 25-20, 23-25, 25-16, 25-18 at Augustana but thanks to losses by Ripon and Beloit, they clinched a spot in the six-team tournament. The tournament matchup will be announced next weekend after the completion of the regular season. .
Down 2-0,
Kaylee Celus (Annawan, Illinois) had Monmouth's first kill and she added after
Haley Smither (Albany, Illinois) had a kill. Smith had two more kills and
Chloe Strachan (Reynolds, Illinois) added a kill as UWL led 9-6. Celus had Monmouth's next three kills but the deficit grew to six.
Brianna Carden (Pecatonica, Illinois) had two kills with the Scots down 21-14 and kills by Celus and
Melina Teunis (Grand Haven, Michigan) pulled Monmouth within three. The Eagles put down the final two points for a 25-20 set win.
Strachan had two kills as Monmouth built a 5-3 lead in the second set. Two kills from Teunis, one by Carden and an ace from Celus put the Scots up 10-4 and forced a UWL timeout, Teunis and Carden shared a block and Teunis added another kill for a 14-5 lead. Smither, Strachan and Celus all had kills before the Eagles cut the lead to 19-14. Celus served two straight aces and Carden had a kill for a 22-15 lead. UWL won the next five points before Smither had a kill for a 23-20 lead. The Eagles tied the set with three straight points before a block by
Abby Viano (Braidwood, Illinois) and a UWL error finished off the set at 25-23.
With the match tied 1-1, Celus and Smither got the first two Monmouth kills of the third set for a 3-3 tie. Another Smither kill and an ace from Celus put the Scots on top and the lead grew to two on a kill by Strachan. UWL won the next three points to lead 10-9 before Celus delivered a kill. Strachan and Celus had kills but the Eagles went on top 16-13. They pushed the lead to 19-14 before Smither picked up a kill. The Scots trailed 23-15 when Strachan delivered a kill but the Eagles finished the set with the next two points.
The fourth set was all UWL as they led 6-2, 10-4 and 14-6 with the Scots shuffling the lineup. Teunis, Viano and Strachan had kills and Celus served an ace at 17-10. The Eagles pushed the lead to 20-10 before kills by Viano and Strachan. Viano had another kill to keep the match alive at 24-18 but UWL got a kill to clinch the match.
Celus led the Scots with 10 kills while Strachan and Smither had nine each.
Isa Hughes (Chicago, Illinois) had 17 assists and
Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) had 13. Celus led the Scots with five aces while Barth had 28 digs.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Celus has at least 10 kills in 14 matches this season…Celus has an ace in 10 straight matches and 124 for her career…Smither set a new career-high with nine kills…Barth has at least 11 digs in seven straight matches and has been in double digits 11 times this season…All six spots in the MWC Tournament have been clinched with Cornell, Lawrence, Illinois College and Lake Forest clinching Friday night…Monmouth and Grinnell clinched the last two spots on Saturday when Beloit and Ripon lost…Lake Forest, Monmouth and Grinnell are currently tied for fourth at 4-3…The top two seeds get a bye while #3 hosts #6 and #4 hosts #5 on Nov. 10 in the first year of a six-team format…UWL leads the all-time series 4-0 including a win last year…The Scots play at home against Lake Forest on Friday at 7 p.m.
