EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team opened play at the UW-Eau Claire tournament with a dominating win over Finlandia University Friday evening, Oct. 15. The Green and White defeated the Lions in straight sets (25-7, 25-12, 25-15) to improve to 13-10, while Finlandia's record fell to 9-11. 

IWU came out strong in the opening set by scoring the first 12 points to take a commanding 12-0 lead. A service ace by senior Madi Corey (Frankfort, Ill. - Lincoln-Way East) began the scoring for the Titans. Senior Courtney McAuliffe (Lemont, Ill. - Lemont) produced two kills, while seniors Makenna Jacoby (Shorewood, Ill. - Minooka Community) and Dana Kiszowski (Schaumburg, Ill. - Schaumburg) both added one kill each. The Green and White's strong start propelled the team to a sizable advantage before Jacoby tallied the final point with a kill from freshman setter Ava Porada (Frankfort, Ill. - Lincoln-Way East) to end the set, 25-7. 

The second set would prove to be similar to the first. The Titans jumped out to an early 10-5 advantage with a kill from senior Jessica McCall (Wayne, Ill. - Wheaton St. Francis) that was assisted by freshman Abby Erdman (Aurora, Ill. - Metea Valley). IWU maintained the edge throughout the set. Back-to-back kills by sophomore Maddie Dryfhout (Orland Park, Ill. - Chicago Christain) and junior Evy Makris (Orland Park, Ill. - Sandburg) pushed the lead to 24-11. A Makris kill ended the second set, 25-12.

Set three was back-and-forth in the early stages. IWU owned an 8-7 advantage and then proceeded to score four straight. Freshman Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill. - Plainfield East) produced back-to-back kills to extend the lead to 12-7. In the end, Harrington notched the match-winning kill to sweep the Lions with a 25-15 victory in the third set.  

Offensively for the Titans, Makris and Harrington both led with seven kills each while Kiszkowski notched five kills in a well-balanced offensive output.

Erdman tied her career-high with her match-leading 15 assists. Porada and Corey accumulated 10 and eight assists, respectively.  

Dryfhout paced IWU with eight digs to lead the defensive effort for the Titans. McCall tallied six digs, while Corey tacked on five digs. 

IWU's dominance in the match extended to nearly every statistical category, as the Titans hit a season-best .322 en route to 40 kills. Meanwhile, Illinois Wesleyan limited the Lions to just 12 kills on a -0.057 attacking percentage. The Green and White also led in aces (4-0), blocks (4-2), assists (35-12), and digs (51-28).

The Green and White will remain in Eau Claire for day two of the tournament Saturday, Oct. 16 that will feature two matches. The Titans are set to take on UW-La Crosse at 11 a.m., followed by No.12 UW-Eau Claire at 1:30 p.m.