Box Score ELMHURST, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team lost in three sets at No. 17-ranked Elmhurst in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournament play-in match on Tuesday (Nov. 1).

The No. 6-seeded Titans finished their season with an 18-15 record as the No. 3-seeded Bluejays won for the 16th straight time, improved to 29-4 and advanced to play No. 2 seed Millikin in the weekend CCIW tournament at top-seed Carthage.

"It's never easy to end a season, but we battled," said Illinois Wesleyan head coach Kim Nelson-Brown. "As a coaching staff, we can't ask for more. We were very pleased with our team's determination and poise tonight."

Sophomore Stephanie Buhrow and junior Katie Rhoades each had eight kills to lead IWU while junior Alex Hill and freshman Maddie Greybar each had seven. Senior Stacy Hassinger provided 26 set assists and, along the back row, Rhoades led IWU with eight defensive digs. Sophomore Miya Thalmann added four digs in the three-set match.

IWU lost the first set, 25-18. Elmhurst started out with a 3-0 lead but the Titans rallied to tie the issue at 6-6 and went on to take an 11-8 lead. Then the Bluejays went on a six-straight point run and an 11-2 series that put them ahead 19-13. The Titans got back within 20-17 before the Bluejays went on a final 5-1 string.

Elmhurst won the second set by a narrow 25-23 score. After jumping in front 5-0, the Bluejays let the Titans get back in the set and tie the score at 15-15. The Titans saw Elmhurst get ahead 23-18 before battling back to score five straight points to tie the score at 23-23. Elmhurst then got the final two points for the win.

The Titans dropped set three, 25-18. Elmhurst again scored the first five points to lead 5-0 and stretched a 13-9 lead into an 18-10 edge with a 5-1 run midway through the set. IWU got back within four points late at 22-18.

As a team, Illinois Wesleyan had 35 kills with 27 errors in 105 attempts for a .076 hitting percentage.