McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team secured a 3-0 victory over Wheaton College on Wednesday night in the opening match of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) season. The match took place at King Arena in Wheaton, Illinois.

With this win, the Titans improved their record to 8-0 overall and 1-0 in CCIW play. The set scores were 25-14, 25-19, and 25-16. This marks the team's seventh consecutive sweep and continues their best start in program history.

Illinois Wesleyan's offense posted a .237 attack percentage with 36 kills. Wheaton was held to just 23 kills and a -.011 hitting percentage. The Titans also led in assists (34 to 21), service aces (8 to 1), and blocks (3 to none). Wheaton finished with more digs, totaling 42 compared to IWU's 36.

Sophomore Alex Bardouniotis and senior Taylor French each recorded double-digit kills for the Titans. Bardouniotis had 12 kills on a .304 hitting percentage while French added 11 kills with a .348 clip. Senior Hannah Tellor contributed six kills and led all players with three service aces. French and junior Sophia Feeney each served two aces.

Feeney registered a team-high 17 assists while freshman Lauren O'Brien added another 13 assists as they shared setting duties.

On defense, senior Kannyn Boyd and Taylor French both finished with nine digs apiece. Feeney and O'Brien each had five digs. At the net, Tellor participated in all three of IWU's blocks, while junior Cailin Shannon added two blocks and Bardouniotis assisted on one.

The Titans started strong by building an early lead in the first set behind solid serving from Tellor and attacking from Bardouniotis. After weathering a short run by Wheaton following a timeout, Illinois Wesleyan regained control thanks to contributions from Shannon, French, and Feeney before taking the first set.

In the second set, IWU used another long scoring run highlighted by plays from French, Bardouniotis, Palmer, O'Brien, and Boyd to build a significant advantage that Wheaton could not overcome.

The third set saw Illinois Wesleyan pull away with a decisive run featuring defensive plays from Bardouniotis and Tellor along with blocking contributions from Shannon as they closed out the match for another sweep.

Illinois Wesleyan will return home for its next competition at Shirk Center during IWU Tournament II scheduled for September 19–20. The Titans are set to open against Wittenberg University at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.