With an 11-5 record overall, and a 2-2 record in the Midwest Conference, the volleyball squad has been spending their week off preparing for their next game, which is at Grinnell College on Tuesday, Oct. 9.

Also, the weekend of fall break the Scots will be heading to Kentucky to get the chance to compete against teams they normally would not face.

Over Family Weekend the volleyball team faced two conference rivals, Lawrence University on Friday, Sept. 28, followed by St. Norbert College on Saturday, Sept. 29.

The Scots defeated Lawrence University with relative ease. The team was striking on all cylinders, and proved to be a definite contender in conference play. The team’s libero, Crystal Meyers, was a dominant force in the back row, digging up almost every ball that came her way.

Also, a revolving crew of front row hitters, including Tanesha Hughes, Samantha Robinson and Allison Shroeter (to name a few) showed dominance at the net. This great team effort allowed the Scots to win in three games, defeating Lawrence 30-24, 30-19, 30-27.

On Saturday, the volleyball team took on St. Norbert College. St. Norbert is also a conference rival of Monmouth, which gave this game added weight. However, the team was not able to carry their momentum from the win the night before, as they lost to St. Norbert in 4 games.

Although the team failed to get the job done, junior Rachel Leffelman noted some of the good things that the team was able to do against St. Norbert. Leffelman said, “We had hitters going up there strong and aggressive, but their defense was everywhere--they did a great job on defense.” St. Norbert showed a very fast and powerful offense. Monmouth struggled to calm themselves down, but also showed great signs of potential. “Once again, our mentality and amount of errors got the best of us,” added Leffelman.

This week has been spent trying to correct those mental mistakes in practice. The volleyball team seems confident in their abilities, and are working on conveying that in every game from here on out.

This is a must, as the Scot’s are creeping closer and closer to their Midwest Conference tournament at the beginning of November. Closer on the horizon, however, is the game against Grinell College on Tuesday, Oct. 9, and their Kentucky tournament during the College’s fall break. Another player who is showing great improvement this year, Samantha Robinson, echoed the thoughts of Leffelman, stating, “We are ready physically, usually more than our opponents, but can’t pull through due to mental breakdowns.” More importantly, though, she expressed that she is “…excited to finish the rest of our conference games strong and beat St. Norbert when we see them at the conference tournament!”

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