BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team powered its way past second-seeded Carthage College to claim the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Championship Saturday, Nov. 6, inside the Shirk Center. The Titans (19-12, 7-1 CCIW) secured the title in straight sets, sweeping the Firebirds (20-13, 6-2 CCIW) 25-21, 25-11, 25-22, to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Tournament. 

In the opening frame, Carthage got out to an early 4-0 advantage. IWU managed to erase the deficit with a powerful kill from Courtney McAuliffe (Lemont, Ill. - Lemont) assisted by freshman Ava Porada (Frankfort, Ill. - Lincoln-Way East) to even the score at six all. Senior Jessica McCall (Wayne, Ill. - Wheaton St. Francis) registered an ace, giving the Titans their first lead of the day, 7-6. After rattling off three straight points to extend the Green and White's lead to 12-8, Carthage called a timeout. The Firebirds responded with a 5-1 run to even the score at 13, but senior Dana Kiszkowski (Schaumburg, Ill. - Schaumburg) tooled a block to give IWU some breathing room. After another Carthage timeout, back-to-back kills by senior Madi Corey (Frankfort, Ill. - Lincoln-Way East) created a 20-17 cushion. Senior Amber Juarez (Bloomington, Ill. - Normal U High) served up an ace and was coupled with a Firebird miscue to give IWU a 25-21 opening-set victory.

The Titans controlled the second set from the jump, manufacturing a 4-0 lead early to force a Carthage timeout. Three Firebird attack errors, a McCall ace and kill created a 9-1 edge for the Green and White. Junior Evy Makris' (Orland Park, Ill. - Sandburg) kill generated another Firebird timeout with the score at 11-2 in favor of IWU. The Titans' dominant offensive, which hit a blistering .441 for the set, paved the way for a 25-11 win to go up in the match, two sets to none. McAuliffe and McCall both led the Titans with four kills apiece as Illinois Wesleyan totaled 16 kills in the set without committing an error. 

Illinois Wesleyan looked to close out the Firebirds in the third set. IWU used a McCall kill off of the Carthage block to garner a quick 6-3 lead. A Kiszkowski kill followed by a CC attack error led to a Firebird timeout with the score set at 14-10 Titans. Despite a comfortable cushion early, Carthage cut IWU's lead to two, 23-21, to force a timeout. The Titans regrouped to close out the match, 25-22, on a McAuliffe kill to complete the sweep.

McCall notched another double-double with an impressive 18-dig and 12-kill performance that included four aces and two blocks to lead the Titans. McAuliffe and Kiszkowski both generated eight kills with an identical .368 hitting percentage.

Corey enjoyed a 15 assist, seven dig, five kill, and a two block championship match in a stat-stuffing performance. Porada accumulated 15 assists for the Green and White, while Juarez and sophomore Faith Washko (Springfield, Ill. - Sacred Heart-Griffin) added 15 and 12 digs, respectively.

For the match, IWU produced advantages in kills (41-36), aces (7-3), and hitting percentage (.239 to .153). The Firebirds topped the Titans in blocks, eight to five. Both teams accumulated 56 digs. 

With the win, the Green and White will advance to the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Tournament for the first time since 2018. IWU will learn its postseason fate with the selection show Monday, Nov. 8 at 12:30 p.m. E.T. The selection show will be available to view at NCAA.com. The official NCAA Division III tournament bracket will be made available shortly after the selection show and can be found by clicking here.