The Monmouth College volleyball team traveled to Wisconsin for their first two conference games of the season on Friday, Sept. 21 and Saturday, Sept. 22.

The Scots started conference play against two tough opponents in Ripon College and Carroll College.

Monmouth, who finished last season with a 5-4 Midwest Conference record, was defeated by Ripon and Carroll in 2006.

With high expectations and four crucial returning seniors for this season, though, Monmouth showed improvement by winning their first conference match in four games against Ripon College, 30-25, 30-25, 27-30, and 30-25.

The Scots needed a solid team effort in order to beat Ripon, and they got just that as many players stepped up and performed very well.

Junior Tanesha Hughes led the team in kills, recording 14 of them on a hitting percentage of .462. Senior Ashley Yeast also had a big game with 11 kills, while senior Kendra James and freshman Alyson Schroeter each contributed with 10 kills.

Overall, the Scots dominated the game in kills, as they recorded 60 on a hitting percentage of .297 while holding Ripon to 43 on a hitting percentage of just .096.

In a game that lasted just over two hours, Monmouth also did a tremendous job of protecting the court, as they recorded 106 digs as a team. Leading the Scots was senior Crystal Myers, who had 31 scoops on the day, while junior Amanda Boonstra recorded 21, senior Colleen Wilkin had 12 and sophomore Alexis Keller recorded 10.

Monmouth improved to 10-3 overall and 1-0 in the MWC after the win, while Ripon dropped to 5-7 and 0-1.
Unfortunately for the Scots, they could not stay perfect in conference play when they played Carroll College the next night in Waukesha, Wis. Carroll beat Monmouth in four games, but the match was much closer than that indicates. The Scots lost the first two games by just two points, 30-28, and they dominated the third game, winning 30-19. Monmouth dropped the fourth game 30-21, but overall only two points separated Carroll from Monmouth in the match.

Hughes and Yeast led the team in kills with 10 apiece, while James recorded 7. Boonstra played very well for the Scots, as she recorded 4 kills to go along with 27 digs. Myers chipped in with 26 scoops, while Wilkin had 17.
Monmouth now sits at 10-4 overall and 1-1 in the MWC, while Carroll is 7-6 overall but a perfect 2-0 in the MWC.

The Scots have two important conference matches this weekend. Both matches are home, as they will play Lawrence University on Friday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m., and St. Norbert College on Saturday, Sept. 29 at 1 p.m. Monmouth defeated Lawrence in 2006, but St. Norbert beat the Scots a year ago.

The team knows these next two games are important, and they are especially pumped for them since it is Family Weekend at Monmouth College.

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