KENOSHA, Wis. -- The No. 12-ranked Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team won for the 18th straight time, taking a four-set victory at Carthage College to win the outright College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championship on Tuesday, Oct. 30, at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.

The Titans, who won by scores of 25-16, 22-25, 27-25, 25-20, finished 8-0 in CCIW play and are now 23-5 overall. It is IWU's first outright CCIW championship since 1997. Illinois Wesleyan shared the conference championship in 2015 and also won outright in 1991.

Senior Tyler Brown led Illinois Wesleyan with 12 kills, 24 digs and three service aces and senior Rachel Burkman provided 10 kills with 17 digs and two blocks. Sophomore Jessica McCall also had 11 kills as the Titans hit .181 in the four sets with 53 kills in 171 attempts with 22 errors.

Senior Leah Seielstad had a team-high 22 set assists along with 13 digs and freshman Madi Corey had 20 assists. Senior Heidi Dague made a total of five blocks and senior Maddie Williams had four.

Carthage finished with a 7-1 league mark and is 20-9 overall. The Lady Reds got 20 kills from Shannon Kebisek along with 15 kills and 18 digs from Megan Behrendt, Ellie LeCount had 40 set assists and 17 digs.

CCIW tournament top seed Illinois Wesleyan will play at 7 p.m. Friday at the Shirk Center against the first round winner between No. 5 seed Augustana and No. 4 seed Millikin in Decatur, Ill. The other semifinal at 4:30 p.m. will put No. 2 seed Carthage against the winner of the Thursday game between North Park and Carroll at Waukesha, Wis. The championship game is slated for 6 p.m. and Saturday. Go here for the 2018 CCIW volleyball tournament web site.
Illinois Wesleyan has a 49-42 record (.538) in CCIW postseason tournament play.

Thursday first round (on campus sites)
7 p.m. - #6 North Park (16-13, 3-5 CCIW) at #3 Carroll (19-9, 6-2 CCIW)
7 p.m. - #5 Augustana (16-13, 4-4 CCIW) at #4 Millikin (15-18, 4-4 CCIW)

Friday Semifinals at Shirk Center
4:30 p.m. - #2 Carthage (20-9, 7-1 CCIW) vs. Carroll/North Park winner
7 p.m. - #1 Illinois Wesleyan (23-5, 8-0 CCIW) vs. Augustana/Millikin winner

Saturday Final at Shirk Center
6 p.m. - Championship game