McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team, currently ranked fourth in the nation, is set to host Augustana College for its regular season finale on Wednesday, November 5. The match will take place at the Shirk Center with a scheduled start time of 7 p.m.

Illinois Wesleyan enters the game with a record of 23-2 overall and an undefeated 7-0 mark in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) play. The Titans recently secured victories over two top-five teams, defeating No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and No. 5 Juniata College. In the win against Juniata, senior Taylor French led the offense with 21 kills while sophomore Alex Bardouniotis added 15 kills. Junior Sophia Feeney recorded 25 assists and senior Kannyn Boyd contributed a team-high 23 digs.

The team's recent success has resulted in its highest-ever national ranking at No. 4 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll. La Verne and East Texas Baptist occupy the top two spots, followed by UW-Eau Claire at No. 3 and UW-Oshkosh at No. 5.

Illinois Wesleyan also clinched its second consecutive CCIW Regular Season Championship for the first time in program history and collected four weekly awards from conference play this week: "French was named hitter of the week, Feeney earned setter of the week, and Boyd closed out the sweep with defensive player of the week honors Monday, Nov. 3." Additionally, "French garnered AVCA Division III National Player of the Week honors after putting on a performance for the Green and White." This marks her third national weekly award.

Statistically, Illinois Wesleyan's offense ranks second nationally in kills per set with an average of nearly fourteen per set; only East Texas Baptist averages more. French leads both her team and conference with a total of 348 kills (4.05 per set), placing her among Division III leaders nationally as well. Bardouniotis is second on her squad with over two hundred fifty kills this season while Hannah Tellor rounds out their top three hitters.

In service aces, French leads IWU with sixty-six this season (0.77 per set), ranking fourteenth nationwide; Bardouniotis follows closely behind along with freshman Lauren O'Brien.

Feeney and O'Brien have guided IWU’s setting duties—Feeney has tallied almost five hundred assists so far while O'Brien adds over four hundred forty.

Defensively, Boyd leads IWU with more than three hundred sixty digs; Bardouniotis and French are also key contributors on defense as well as offense.

Illinois Wesleyan holds a historical advantage over Augustana College (28 wins to nineteen) since their series began in 1994; they have won nine out of their last ten meetings including last year’s decisive five-set victory that clinched another regular-season title for IWU.

Augustana enters Wednesday's contest following a close five-set win against North Park University last week.