McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team experienced its first defeat of the season after splitting two matches at Hope College on Saturday, September 27. The Titans, ranked seventh nationally and holding a 13-1 record, opened the day with a sweep against No. 14 Marietta College but later lost in four sets to No. 18 Hope College.

Senior Taylor French broke two program records during the day's matches. In the first set against Marietta, she recorded her 241st career ace, surpassing Tiffany Hamblin's previous record that had stood since 2002. French also became the program's all-time points leader, overtaking former player and current assistant coach Tyler White.

Against Marietta (9-4), Illinois Wesleyan secured a straight-set victory with scores of 25-20, 25-15, and 25-16. The Titans registered 39 kills with a .326 attack percentage while limiting their opponents to a .129 percentage. They led in assists (37-30), digs (49-41), aces (12-2), and blocks (5-0).

Sophomore Alex Bardouniotis contributed 11 kills on a .500 attack percentage. French added seven kills and achieved nine aces in the match—a new personal best and tied for second-most in program history for a single match. Junior Cailin Shannon posted six kills, while freshman Lauren O'Brien and senior Kannyn Boyd added service aces.

On defense, Boyd tallied 15 digs; O'Brien and Bardouniotis each recorded nine. Bardouniotis, freshman Carly Whitaker, and junior Eleanor Palmer each had two blocks.

Illinois Wesleyan controlled much of the first match through consistent scoring runs and key plays from multiple team members.

In their second match of the day against Hope College (11-4), Illinois Wesleyan saw its win streak end at thirteen games. Despite winning the total kills battle (46-43), they struggled offensively with a .082 hitting percentage due to committing 34 attack errors. Hope finished with higher efficiency (.276) and advantages in aces (9-7) and blocks (12-2). The Titans led slightly in assists (45-42) and digs (61-58).

Bardouniotis led with 14 kills; French followed closely with 13. O'Brien had a team-high 21 assists along with three aces; Feeney contributed another 18 assists. Bardouniotis also notched a double-double by adding a team-best 17 digs.

During this match, French surpassed her assistant coach’s career points mark by reaching her 1,956.5th point early in the second set.

Illinois Wesleyan won only one set against Hope—taking the second set—but dropped the remaining three: opening set at 25-20, third at 25-17, and fourth at 25-7.

The Titans are scheduled to play next against North Park University on Wednesday night, October 1 at North Park Gymnasium beginning at 6 p.m.