MONMOUTH, Ill. – The Beloit College volleyball team falls to Monmouth (IL) 25-19, 25-15, 25-17 this afternoon at Glennie Gymnasium. The Buccaneers dropped to 6-15 overall and 1-8 in Midwest conference play, while Monmouth improved to 9-15 and 6-3 MWC. Beloit did show fight in the first set, which featured four ties and three lead changes, and the Buccaneers finished with 49 digs and six service aces.
The opening set was the closest of the matches. Naomi Murphy (Dubuque, Iowa) kill from an Aaliyah Gerard (Aiea, HI) set put Beloit ahead 1-0 and later tied it at 17-16. After falling behind 10-5, the Buccaneers called timeout and answered with blocks from Daniela Perez (San Francisco, CA) on consecutive Monmouth attack errors, followed by a Madeline Holthaus (Saint Paul, MN) kill and a Renee Stout (Nocona, TX) ace to climb within 11-10. Beloit twice drew within a point, including 15-14 on a Holthaus ace, and the teams were tied at 15-15 before Monmouth pulled away. Holthaus had two kills and an ace in the set, Lilianne Bethards (Rockford, IL) and Kierra Rayne Hoover (Albuquerque, New Mexico) each had two kills, and Perez recorded two block assists.
Monmouth jumped ahead early in the second set and led 12-5 when Beloit took a timeout. Perez and Murphy each had three kills in the set, and Murphy hit .500. Gerard dished five assists. Despite a Perez ace that cut the lead to 12-7, the Buccaneers could not get closer than six points the rest of the way.
In the final set, Beloit trailed 8-3 before a 6-0 swing, capped by Stout's serve and kills from Audrey Deane (Omaha, NE) and Madalyn Huizel (Faribault, MN), tied the set at 8-8 and 9-9. Monmouth answered with a 4-0 run and led 13-9, and a Selin Tufte (Clarkdale, Ariz.) kill later made it 20-14. Tufte had three kills on five swings (.600) in the set, and Huizel added two kills and a block assist.
The Bucs will wrap up regular season play at home on November 7th in a tri-match with Knox College and Alverno College.
