SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- Playing against highly-regarded competition, the Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team lost a pair of matches in Wittenberg University's National Invitational Tournament on Saturday, Sept. 2, in Springfield, Ohio.

The Titans lost a 3-1 decision to Johns Hopkins by scores of 29-31, 25-17, 18-25, 17-25, before taking preseason No. 2-ranked Emory University to five sets before losing by scores of 27-25, 28-26, 19-25, 18-25, 9-15.

Senior Kyleigh Block and junior Tyler Brown were selected to the all-tournament team.

Against Johns Hopkins, junior Rachel Burkman led the Titans with 14 kills and Brown added 11. Brown paced the team with 21 digs and freshman Jessica McCall added 19.
Block had eight Kills and a team-best four blocks and freshman Caitlin Meyer led IWU with 31 set assists.
The Titans finished with 41 kills and a season-best .162 hitting percentage while Johns Hopkins had a hitting mark of .194 with 53 kills.

In the five-set match against the Eagles, Brown and Burkman had 12 kills and Block led IWU with five blocks, 24 assists, three aces and added 11 kills. Meyer also had 24 assists and McCall provided a team-high 27 digs. Senior Maisy Bowden had five total blocks.
Illinois Wesleyan had 55 kills with a hitting percentage of .154 and the Eagles had 71 kills in 207 tries (.207).

What's Next?
The Titans' schedule gets no easier this week as IWU travels to St. Louis to meet No. 3-ranked Washington U. at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 6. The Bears are 2-1 after a home tournament this weekend.