McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team continued its strong start to the season with a straight-set victory over Elmhurst University on Wednesday night at the Shirk Center. The Titans, ranked seventh nationally, won by scores of 25-9, 25-12, and 25-18, improving their record to 12-0 overall and 2-0 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). Elmhurst dropped to 4-12 and remains winless in conference play.

Illinois Wesleyan's serving played a key role in the match. The team recorded 15 aces, led by senior Taylor French and freshman Lauren O'Brien who combined for 11. French had six aces, moving her into second place on IWU's career list and leaving her three shy of tying Tiffany Hamblin’s all-time record of 240.

French also led the team with 13 kills on a .323 hitting percentage. O'Brien contributed a team-high 13 assists, while junior Sophia Feeney added 12 more. Freshman Carly Whitaker and sophomore Alex Bardouniotis each tallied six kills, with senior Hannah Tellor and junior Eleanor Palmer adding five apiece.

On defense, senior Kannyn Boyd led with nine digs. Bardouniotis and O'Brien each had seven digs. Palmer was the leader at the net with three blocks; junior Cailin Shannon added two blocks as well. Overall, Illinois Wesleyan outhit Elmhurst .275 to .083 and led statistically in kills (36-20), aces (15-3), digs (41-38), blocks (3-2), and assists (29-19).

The Titans established control early in the first set by scoring ten consecutive points—four of which were aces from French—forcing an early timeout from Elmhurst. The first set ended after an officials’ discussion at 25-9 in favor of Illinois Wesleyan.

In the second set, back-to-back aces from O'Brien extended IWU’s lead to double digits. Tellor closed out the set with a kill for a 25-12 win.

Elmhurst took an early lead in the third set but could not hold it as Illinois Wesleyan came back to tie and then take control following an ace by Bardouniotis. A series of errors by Elmhurst helped IWU extend its advantage before closing out the match at 25-18.

Illinois Wesleyan will travel next for matches against No.14 Marietta College and No.18 Hope College on Saturday, September 27 in Holland, Michigan.