McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team secured a victory against ninth-ranked Marietta College, winning in straight sets on Friday night, November 22. This win advances them to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Tournament. The Titans achieved set scores of 30-28, 25-22, and 25-23, improving their season record to 24-9. Marietta's season concluded with a record of 24-2.

Five players from Illinois Wesleyan recorded seven or more kills during the match. Junior Taylor French led with 17 kills. Junior Hannah Tellor, freshman Alex Bardouniotis, and fifth-year Jordan Pierce each contributed eight kills. Sophomore Eleanor Palmer added seven kills. Tellor and Palmer combined for a total of 15 kills with two errors on 36 attempts.

The Titans had a hitting percentage of .204 with 53 kills compared to Marietta's .206 percentage with 39 kills. Illinois Wesleyan also led in digs with a total of 72 compared to Marietta's 58. Junior Kannyn Boyd recorded a match-high of 19 digs, while sophomore Sophia Feeney and senior Abby Erdman each achieved double-doubles with both recording assists and digs.

French and Bardouniotis each served three aces contributing to Illinois Wesleyan's lead in this category at 8-5 over Marietta.

In the first set, which was tightly contested with nine ties and six set-points, Illinois Wesleyan emerged victorious after extra points were needed to decide the winner. Key plays included Bardouniotis' early contributions that helped secure an initial lead for IWU.

During the second set, despite trailing by four points at one stage, Illinois Wesleyan managed to regain control through significant plays by Palmer and Pierce.

The third set saw the Titans trailing by as many as six points but they rallied back to clinch the sweep thanks to crucial performances from Tellor and French.

Illinois Wesleyan will play against the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the Sweet Sixteen on November 23 at Ban Johnson Arena on Marietta's campus.