BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team's seventh NCAA Tournament appearance will begin with a 12:30 p.m. match against No. 15 University of Northwestern (St. Paul) Thursday, Nov. 11, in the Eau Claire, Wis. Regional. The IWU-UNW match will serve as the first of four opening day matches at McPhee Physical Education Center.
    Illinois Wesleyan enters the postseason with a 19-12 overall record. The Titans earned the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin's automatic bid with a 3-0 sweep of Carthage College in the CCIW Tournament, Nov. 6. Northwestern, winners of 14 straight, heads into the national tournament with a 29-3 record. The Eagles claimed the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament title with a straight set win over the University of Minnesota Morris, Nov. 6.
    Fans can tune into the game via live stats or live stream. Links on how to follow along can be found on the men's basketball schedule page of IWUsports.com.

IWU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Illinois Wesleyan has made six appearances in the NCAA Tournament previously, with the first coming in 1991. IWU also qualified for the national tournament in 1997, 1998, 2015, 2017, and 2018. The Green and White have produced a 4-6 record in the postseason, including a run into the Sweet 16 in the 2018.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: Illinois Wesleyan and Northwestern will square off for the first time ever when they meet Thursday, Nov. 11.

COMMON OPPONENTS: The regular season schedules of Illinois Wesleyan and Northwestern featured three common opponents in UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stevens Point, and UW-La Crosse. The Titans went 1-2 against the three, with a four-set win over UWL. The Eagles went 2-1 against the trio of Wisconsin schools, with sweeps of UWSP and UWL. All three of Northwestern's game were played on the Eagles' home court back in September.

A WIN WOULD...: With a win, Illinois Wesleyan would advance to the second round where IWU would play the winner of the Hope-Whitworth match. The second round game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12.  A win would also give the Titans their fourth in-a-row as well as their longest win streak of the season.

TITANS VS. THE FIELD: The Titans, who played one of the toughest schedules in the country,  have played 11 teams featured in this season's 64-team field. IWU battled Susquehanna, Christopher Newport, Calvin, UW-Whitewater, UW-Eau Claire, Chicago, Hope, Ohio Northern, UW-Stevens Point, Aurora, and Clarkson during the regular season. Illinois Wesleyan compiled a 2-9 record against the field in the regular season and hold the 18th-toughest schedule in all of NCAA Division III.

BLOCK PARTY: Illinois Wesleyan ranks 63rd in all of NCAA Division III in total blocks with 192, thanks in large part to senior Courtney McAuliffe. McAuliffe leads the team and ranks 10th nationally with 113 blocks. She heads into the postseason averaging 1.04 blocks per set, a mark that ranks 30th in NCAA Division III.
For the season, IWU has compiled a 13-4 record when tallying more blocks than its opponent. On the other hand, Illinois Wesleyan is 6-6 when the opponent records more blocks and 0-2 when blocks are tied.

McCALL GARNERS AVCA WEEKLY ACCOLADE: Senior Jessica McCall was named the AVCA Division III Player of the Week Tuesday, Nov. 9. It is the first national award of McCall's career, as well as the first by a Titan since Tyler Brown was recognized in 2018.
    McCall powered Illinois Wesleyan to the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Championship and an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament. She posted a pair of double-doubles in CCIW tournament sweeps of fifth-seeded Millikin and second-seeded Carthage. McCall went for 15 kills and 14 digs, hitting a whopping .378 from the back row to send IWU into the tournament championship. She followed that up with a 12-kill, 18-dig double-double against Carthage to secure IWU's first CCIW Tournament Championship since 2018.
    Returning for her fifth-year after last year's COVID season, McCall posted season-highs in both kills (15) and digs (18) throughout the tournament as she led the Titans. She accounted for 23 percent of IWU's scoring throughout the conference tournament.

ANOTHER IWU SWEEP: Illinois Wesleyan swept the CCIW's final postseason awards as senior setter Madi Corey was voted the league's Player of the Year and head coach Kim Nelson-Brown was recognized as the CCIW's Coach of the Year.
Corey is the seventh Titan to be recognized as the CCIW's Player of the Year, joining Kirstin Rajala (1989), Amy Rajala (1991), Kellie Schmidt (1999), Beth Crowley (2003), Molly May (2004), and Tyler Brown (2018).
    Meanwhile, Nelson-Brown earned the league's top coaching honor for the third time in her career after guiding the Green and White to the CCIW regular season and tournament titles.

ALL-CCIW HONOREES: Seniors Courtney McAuliffe, Madi Corey, and Jessica McCall were named to First Team All-CCIW. Freshman Ava Porada and sophomore Faith Washko received second team nods.
    IWU, the CCIW Regular Season Champion, ranked first in the CCIW with five all-conference awardees. Since 2000, Illinois Wesleyan's five CCIW All-Conference nominees ranks second in program history, as the 2018 team saw six athletes selected.