McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team is set to compete in the NCAA Tournament Regional in Marietta, Ohio, from November 21-23. The Titans will face Franklin & Marshall College in the opening round on Thursday afternoon.

Illinois Wesleyan secured its spot by winning the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin's automatic bid after defeating Millikin University in a five-set match during the CCIW Tournament Championship. "The Titans ran the table in CCIW play," achieving an 8-0 record during the regular season and 2-0 in the conference tournament.

Franklin & Marshall enters with an at-large bid following a semifinal win over Ursinus but a championship loss to Swarthmore in their conference tournament. The Diplomats have an overall record of 23-6.

This matchup marks the first meeting between Illinois Wesleyan and Franklin & Marshall. The Titans have only faced one other Centennial Conference school previously, Johns Hopkins, which they lost to in 2017.

Illinois Wesleyan has had a strong season, led by junior Taylor French who was named CCIW Hitter of the Year for two consecutive seasons. French has achieved significant milestones including reaching over 1000 career kills and digs. The team's head coach, Kim Nelson-Brown, now in her 29th season, has guided them to multiple championships and tournament appearances.

Several players have earned All-CCIW honors this season: Taylor French and Hannah Tellor received First Team accolades while Kannyn Boyd and Sophia Feeney were named to the Second Team. Freshman Alex Bardouniotis was recognized as First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year.

The team looks forward to potentially advancing further into the tournament, with a chance to face either Marietta College or St. John Fisher University if they win their initial match against Franklin & Marshall.

Tickets for attending matches at Marietta College are available online through iwusports.com.