MONMOUTH, Illinois — The Ripon volleyball program opened Midwest Conference action on Friday night, falling at Monmouth 3-1 inside Glennie Gym.
 
In the back-and-forth affair, Monmouth (7-8, 1-0 MWC) dispatched of Ripon (6-10, 0-1 MWC) by set scores of 25-20, 25-20, 21-25, 25-15.
 
In the opening frame, Ripon raced out to a 5-0 lead, punctuated by a kill from Sophia Brinker. Later in the set, with the Red Hawks clinging to a 10-8 lead, the Scots pulled ahead with a 6-0 run to regain a lead they would not relinquish in the set, leading by as much as five and eventually winning the set by that margin.
 
Set two was more one-sided, as Monmouth held a steady lead throughout the set and never trailed in the second stanza. An ace gave the Scots their biggest lead of the set at 21-14 and they would cruise to the 25-20 set win, taking a commanding 2-0 lead.
 
Ripon would not lay down easily, however. In a third set that featured a pair of ties, the Red Hawks never trailed the Scots en route to a 25-21 set win. Ripon jumped out to an 8-3 lead and held a five-point cushion on three different occasions. Clinging to a narrow 23-21 lead, kills by Brinker and Haylee Kast finished the set and forced a fourth.
 
Monmouth flexed its muscles in the fourth set to put the match away. The Scots claimed an early 9-4 lead, forcing the first Ripon timeout of the set. The lead grew to as much as nine in the early going and with Ripon trailing 14-5, another timeout was called. After the Red Hawks trimmed the lead to 6 at 20-14, Monmouth scored five of the next six points to secure the overall match victory.
 
On the offensive side for Ripon, Emily Braun had a career night. The sophomore had a career-high 41 assists while three Red Hawks reached double figures in kills, led by Paris Croker's 12. Kast and Ellie Ove each had 11.
 
Defensively, four Red Hawks accumulated double figures in digs: Braun and Samatha Differt led the charge with 14 apiece, while Sam Thrasher and Bella Kasuboski each chipped in 13.
 
Ripon nearly had a season-high in kills, racking up 50 compared to Monmouth's 47. The Scots, however, held a .250 to .160 advantage in hitting percentage. Monmouth also had 9 aces compared to Ripon's 2.
 
Ripon finishes its weekend at Illinois College on Saturday (September 30). First serve from Jacksonville is scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
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