McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team, currently ranked seventh in the nation, will face Carthage College in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) match on Wednesday, October 8. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Tarble Arena.

Illinois Wesleyan enters the contest with a record of 14-1 overall and remains undefeated in conference play at 3-0. In their most recent match on October 1, the Titans secured a straight-set victory over North Park University, hitting .385 as a team. Six players recorded five or more kills during the match. Senior Hannah Tellor and sophomore Alex Bardouniotis each contributed nine kills with attack percentages above .500. Junior Eleanor Palmer added seven kills and led the team with four blocks.

Following these performances, Bardouniotis was named CCIW Hitter of the Week and Palmer received Defensive Player of the Week honors for the first time in their careers.

With their win against North Park, Illinois Wesleyan moved up one spot to No. 7 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll, matching their highest ranking this season. The top teams ahead include La Verne at No. 1, East Texas Baptist at No. 2, UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater rounding out the top four, followed by Juniata and Emory.

The Titans have maintained strong offensive statistics throughout the season, ranking sixth nationally in kills per set with an average of 13.65. Senior Taylor French leads the team with 189 kills (3.86 per set) and has a .247 attack percentage. Bardouniotis follows with 144 kills (2.94 per set), while Tellor has contributed 98 kills so far this season.

French also leads in service aces with 39, placing her seventeenth in Division III for aces per set at an average of 0.80. Freshman Lauren O'Brien is second on the team with 31 aces; Bardouniotis is third with 22.

Setting duties are shared between O'Brien and junior Sophia Feeney, who have helped guide Illinois Wesleyan to lead the CCIW in assists per set (12.33), which ranks fourteenth nationally. Feeney has recorded a team-high 272 assists (5.55 per set), while O'Brien has tallied 247 assists (5.04 per set).

On defense, senior Kannyn Boyd leads with 199 digs (4.42 per set). Bardouniotis is second with 157 digs (3.20 per set), followed by French's total of 131 digs this season. Palmer holds the lead in blocks with 32; Tellor has registered 31 blocks; junior Cailin Shannon has added another twenty.

The upcoming game marks the fifty-fourth meeting between Illinois Wesleyan and Carthage since their series began in 1994. Carthage holds a historical edge at thirty wins to twenty-three but Illinois Wesleyan has claimed victory in four of their last five encounters—including last year’s sweep inside Shirk Center that ended Carthage’s unbeaten conference run.

Carthage approaches this matchup after a five-set loss to fifth-ranked University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on October 4 and currently stands at a record of thirteen wins and six losses overall (1-1 CCIW). Last year’s match saw French leading IWU’s offense with fifteen kills while Shannon posted eight kills on limited attempts; Boyd led defensively with eleven digs alongside Feeney’s eighteen assists.

Fans can access live streaming coverage through this link, while live statistics are available here.