Tony Gliwa Assistant Women's Volleyball Coach | Illinois College Athletics Website
Tony Gliwa Assistant Women's Volleyball Coach | Illinois College Athletics Website
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - In its first match of the 2024 season at the Shirk Center, the Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team defeated DePauw University in four sets (25-15, 21-25, 25-20, 25-21) to open the Crafted Classic. With this victory, IWU evens its record at 2-2, while DePauw also moves to a 2-2 record.
Three Titans achieved double-digit kills. Junior Taylor French led with 22 kills, junior Hannah Tellor contributed 11 kills on a .526 attack percentage, and senior Morgan Harrington added 10 kills. Fifth-year Jordan Pierce, senior Abby Erdman, and sophomore Sophia Feeney coordinated the Titan offense for a combined .247 hitting percentage. Pierce recorded 20 assists, while Erdman and Feeney finished with 14 and 12 assists respectively.
Defensively, junior Kannyn Boyd led with 29 digs, tying her career-high. French and Pierce each posted 12 digs for double-double performances. Sophomore Eleanor Palmer led Illinois Wesleyan's net presence with three blocks, while French recorded two rejections. The team's defense held DePauw to a .199 attack percentage.
Illinois Wesleyan had advantages in kills (62-42), assists (57-40), service aces (8-6), and digs (86-63). DePauw held a lead in total blocks (10-4).
In the first set, trailing 8-3 initially, Tellor ended DePauw's run with a crucial sideout kill. French then registered four straight kills to level the score at eight apiece. Following a timeout by DePauw after IWU took a lead of 9-8, Illinois Wesleyan found its rhythm and closed the set on a significant run to win it 25-15.
After losing the second set 25-21, IWU quickly regained momentum in the third set. French opened with a kill followed by back-to-back aces to push the score to an early lead of 4-1. Boyd’s consecutive aces extended their advantage further as they eventually secured the third set at 25-20.
The fourth set saw IWU taking an early lead which remained close until late kills from French, Erdman, and Tellor gave them a decisive edge at 21-19. After strategic timeouts from both teams and critical plays from players like Shannon and Feeney setting up match point at 24-21, Boyd assisted French for the final kill sealing their victory at 25-21.
Illinois Wesleyan will face Loras College on Saturday morning before concluding their weekend homestand against Webster University in the afternoon.
Alerts Sign-up