Tony Gliwa Assistant Women's Volleyball Coach | Illinois College Athletics Website
Tony Gliwa Assistant Women's Volleyball Coach | Illinois College Athletics Website
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Following a sweep over Wheaton College on Wednesday, September 18, the Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU) women's volleyball team will travel to Aurora University for a triangular event on Saturday, September 21. IWU (7-4) is scheduled to face the University of Dubuque at 2:30 p.m., followed by a match against Aurora (6-4) at 5 p.m. The games will take place inside Thornton Gymnasium.
The Titans are coming off a strong performance against the Thunder at the Shirk Center on Wednesday night. IWU's offense hit .417 as a team, marking the eighth-best percentage in program history. Junior Taylor French led with 18 kills on a .615 attack percentage, the seventh-highest mark in a game all-time. Freshman Alex Bardouniotis contributed nine kills on a .375 clip. Senior Abby Erdman reached a milestone by surpassing 1,000 career assists, finishing with 17 for the night. Sophomore Eleanor Palmer recorded six blocks.
French leads the Illinois Wesleyan attack with 168 kills, ranking 18th nationally with an average of 4.20 per set. Her total points and points per set also place her in the top-20 in Division III. Tellor follows with 84 kills and Bardouniotis has added 82 in her first collegiate season.
Sophomore Sophia Feeney leads IWU's setters with 167 assists, averaging 5.06 per set. Fifth-year Jordan Pierce has accumulated 119 assists while Erdman has tallied 114. French holds the team-high with 25 aces; Feeney and Bardouniotis follow with 15 and 14 aces respectively.
Defensively, French and junior Kannyn Boyd lead in digs with each recording 119 so far this season. Freshman Alysa Lawton is third on the team with an average of 4.43 digs per set while Boyd averages closely behind at 4.41 per set. Palmer leads net defense with an average of nearly one block per set.
IWU and Dubuque (8-5) will meet for their eighth encounter since their series began in 1997, where IWU currently holds a narrow lead of four wins to three losses and have won their last two meetings including their most recent match-up on October 21, 2016.
The Titans also hold an advantage over Aurora University (11-5) in their series history and have emerged victorious in their last two encounters including their most recent meeting on November 4, when they secured a senior day win powered by French’s offensive performance.
Aurora University will provide live streaming and live stats for each match which can be accessed through iwusports.com.
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