Monmouth College Volleyball Team Eyes MWC Tournament Success

Published Time: 2024-11-13T06:00:00+00:00

MONMOUTH, Ill. – The Monmouth College volleyball team has used a combination of power, relentlessness and grit to notch the program’s best season in more than a decade. Now that the Fighting Scots have reached a goal of making the Midwest Conference tournament, they have no plans of backing off.

“We have powerful players,” said second-year head coach Derrick Broekemier. “We don’t want to get into the tournament and be tipping the ball too much. We want to take big rips. You might get blocked and you might make a few errors, but you have to take big swings.”

It’s going to take a big swing to knock off tourney host Cornell College, which just won its 12th straight MWC regular-season title. The Rams have won nine of the last 11 conference tournaments – and the NCAA tournament berth that goes with it – including all three tourneys since the pandemic canceled the 2020 season.

First up, though, Monmouth will need to get past Grinnell College. The Scots and Pioneers will meet at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 15, with Cornell taking on Illinois College at 7 p.m.

“I knew this summer. I knew what pieces we needed to add, and after watching most of the freshmen recruits play for their club and high school teams, I knew we had the potential to do something special.” – Derrick Broekemier

The Scots have some unsettled business against the Pioneers. Last year, they dropped a win-or-go-home five-set match to Grinnell on the final day of the regular season, and the Pioneers also topped the Scots in five sets this season, although there was no playoff-qualification drama in the match that neither team needed to win. Of those 10 sets, nine were decided by two or three points, and it took more than 25 points to win five of them.

“Grinnell’s a great team,” said Broekemier. “They’re coached really well. It’s not a skill difference that’s going to win this game. It’s who wants it more, and who can take it away from the other team.”

Talent and belief

In addition to the “You have to take big swings” mindset, poet Maya Angelou also offers some words of wisdom for Broekemier’s Scots: “You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been.”

For the four seniors on Monmouth’s team, where they’ve been is below .500 for their first three years in college. In fact, that sub-.500 streak stretches all the way back to 2013, the year following a 19-11 campaign and MWC tourney appearance. This year, the Scots are 19-10 as they head into the postseason.

Broekemier had a feeling this season would be different.

“I knew this summer,” he said. “I knew what pieces we needed to add, and after watching most of the freshmen recruits play for their club and high school teams, I knew we had the potential to do something special.”

The players might’ve taken a bit longer to gain that knowledge, but Broekemier pinpointed a pivotal moment.

“The IC game,” he said. “As soon as we beat them, the team really started to believe. They knew this team has what it takes.”

Monmouth’s 3-1 victory over IC on Oct. 11 was the Scots’ first against the Lady Blues since 2013.

A two-class system (mostly)

Five freshmen have stepped into important roles, including Kaylee Celus, who has assumed the role of the Scots’ No. 1 attacking threat. She leads the team with 389 kills, to go with 45 aces and 208 digs.

Freshmen also lead in assists (Tyla Mattson with 610) and solo blocks (Paige Foltz with 35). Outside hitters Lauren Aldrich (236 kills) and Chloe Strachan (162 kills) have also been key contributors.

They’ve joined forces with a senior trio that includes Paige Bergschneider, Savannah Robinson and Layne Wright. Collectively, those seniors represent the “bump, set, spike” of volleyball. Robinson has a team-high 435 digs and has been over the 350 mark in all four seasons; Bergschneider, who had 755 assists as a sophomore, is second on the team with 475; and Wright, who’s smacked 200+ kills in all four seasons, has 287 this year. Additionally, Wright leads the team in aces (61) and serves received (618).

Junior Alana Robertson has chipped in 76 kills and 20 solo blocks.

Monmouth’s last 20-win team was in 2010, and the Scots last won a game in the MWC tourney in 2007. If the Scots can get past Grinnell, they’ll change both of those dates to 2024 and give the seniors one last shot at toppling Cornell.

“We’ll have to play our best volleyball and show them what Monmouth College volleyball is all about,” said Broekemier of a potential matchup with the host Rams. “We’re very capable of winning. The question is, do we have that belief that when we’re in a position to put them away, we can do that. We have to finish.”

The freshmen, on the other hand, are just getting started on a quest to topple Cornell.

“They’re a fantastic team,” said Broekemier, “but I think we’ll be right there with them in the years to come.”