McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team secured a victory against Carthage College on Wednesday night, Oct. 9, in Bloomington, Ill. The Titans won in straight sets with scores of 25-19, 25-21, and 25-23. This win improved Illinois Wesleyan's record to 5-0 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) and 12-5 overall. Carthage now stands at 10-6 for the season and 3-1 in conference play.

Junior Taylor French led the offensive effort for the Titans with a match-high of 15 kills on a .387 hitting percentage. Sophomore Cailin Shannon contributed eight kills with a .538 attacking percentage, while junior Hannah Tellor added seven kills on a .417 clip. Additional contributions came from sophomore Eleanor Palmer with five kills.

Sophomore Sophia Feeney and senior Abby Erdman facilitated the team's balanced attack. Feeney recorded 18 assists and nine digs, while Erdman added 16 assists and six digs.

Defensively, junior Kannyn Boyd topped all players with 11 digs. French and freshman Alex Bardouniotis each had seven digs as well. Tellor was key at the net with three blocks, supported by senior Morgan Harrington and French who both registered two blocks.

Illinois Wesleyan dominated most statistical categories against Carthage, recording more kills (45 to Carthage's 34), leading in attacking percentage (.309 to .247), assists (40 to Carthage's 27), aces (3 to Carthage's 2), and digs (42 to Carthage's 33). Both teams achieved four blocks each.

In set one, Illinois Wesleyan capitalized on several errors by Carthage to gain an early lead. Key plays from Harrington and Tellor maintained this advantage throughout the set, which ended in a Titan victory at 25-19.

Set two mirrored the first as both teams exchanged points until Illinois Wesleyan pulled ahead late in the game. A kill from Palmer pushed IWU into the lead at critical moments before Bardouniotis secured the second set win at 25-21.

The third set saw Illinois Wesleyan quickly taking control after an initial point loss to Carthage. Despite a comeback attempt by Carthage mid-set, timely plays from Palmer and Tellor kept IWU ahead until Erdman's assist led to Harrington’s match-clinching kill.

Illinois Wesleyan will pause their conference schedule on Friday, Oct. 11, when they travel to Elmhurst University for matches against Wartburg College at 2 p.m., followed by facing off against the University of Wisconsin-River Falls at 4:30 p.m.