McLean County Times

A sophomore from Illinois Wesleyan University, Taylor French, has been recognized for her outstanding performance in women's volleyball. French was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association/GameChanger National Player of the Week and the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Hitter of the Week on November 7. These accolades come just after she was honored as the CCIW Offensive Player of the Year and First Team All-CCIW.

French is making history with her achievements. She is the first player to receive consecutive national honors from AVCA. Additionally, Illinois Wesleyan University becomes the first Division III school to achieve this back-to-back recognition, joining prestigious NCAA schools such as Stanford University and University of Nebraska-Kearney.

In a record-setting season, French became the first CCIW women's volleyball player to earn four straight weekly awards and six in one season. With eight total conference player of the week awards in her career, she ties with Tyler Brown, now an assistant coach at Illinois Wesleyan.

During a successful week for her team, French led them to two victories extending their winning streak to nine games. Her stats include 43 kills with a .333 attack percentage across matches against Webster University and Aurora University. Notably, she achieved her 19th double-double performance during a quick victory over Webster University and matched her career-high of 27 kills against Aurora University.

The Titans will face Augustana College in the CCIW Tournament Quarterfinals on November 7 at 7 p.m., held at Shirk Center.