Monmouth Tops Eureka, 3-0

EUREKA – The Eureka volleyball team dropped a 3-0 non-conference contest against Monmouth at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena and Convocation Center on Tuesday.

The Red Devils kept it competitive throughout, but they couldn't manage to stay within striking distance for a whole set. The final scores were 25-17, 25-16, 25-17.

Eureka's Halle Gauna (Arcola, Ill./Arcola/Lincoln Trail College) and Brooklyn Shell (Evansville, Ind./Mount Vernon) both recorded a team-high seven kills. Shell hit .333 with just two errors on 15 swings in the first two sets.

Payton Florine (Galesburg, Ill./Abingdon-Avon/Lincoln) followed with five kills while hitting .222 and coming up with 11 digs. Libero Jurnee Flournoy (Decatur, Ill./Decatur MacArthur) also had 11 digs. Setter Hope McGinnes (Mackinaw, Ill./Deer Creek-Mackinaw) tallied 17 assists.

The Red Devils notched 11 kills in the first set, along with a team-high .250 hitting percentage. After Monmouth scored the first four points, Eureka came back and took a 7-6 lead.

The Fighting Scots responded with a 4-0 run to regain control, but the home team hung around the visitors scored five straight to make it 22-14. The Red Devils fended off two set points before Monmouth clinched the win.

The second set was neck-and-neck early on, and when the Fighting Scots started finding separation, the Red Devils put together a 5-0 run that featured kills by Florine, Gauna and Brittney Mekelburg (Johnstown, Colo./Roosevelt/St. Andrew's University).

A ball handling error put EC within a point at 15-14 and it was there again at 16-15. The Fighting Scots, however, finished the match on a hot streak, claiming nine of the last 10 points.

Set 3 was similarly close for the first half. The Red Devils held an 11-8 lead after a 5-0 run in which Eureka forced the Fighting Scots to make mistakes. As they did earlier, though, the visitors turned it around. They went on a 6-1 run to take control of the match and scored six straight to pull away near the end.

Monmouth's Layne Wright recorded a team-high 11 kills while hitting .375, and Amanda Dybal and Zoe Nizzia each had seven kills. The Fighting Scots hit .255 overall, landed eight aces and terminated nine total blocks.

Eureka (2-4, 1-1 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) will next host Lyon (5-9, 2-0 SLIAC) and Webster (3-9, 1-1 SLIAC) in a league triangular on Saturday at 10 a.m.