BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team faded in a four-set defeat to No. 7 Hope College Saturday, Sept. 25 to conclude play in the Holiday Inn Express Classic II. IWU was downed by sets scores of 25-20, 22-25, 25-17, 25-15 as the Titans record slipped to 7-9 (1-1 CCIW). 

In the opening set, the Flying Dutch saw an 11-10 lead expand to 14-10 thanks to a trio of kills. Hope would use this mini run to see a 24-20 lead later in the set. A kill by Ana Grunewald solidified the opening set victory for the Dutch. 

The second set saw a different result for the Titans. With the score being 5-4 in favor of Hope, Illinois Wesleyan went on a five point run to take the lead, 9-5. IWU did not relinquish the lead as senior Courtney McAuliffe (Lemont, Ill. - Lemont) blasted a kill to capture the set for the Green and White.

With the match tied at one set apiece, Hope claimed set three and four 25-17 and 25-15, respectively, to hand IWU a 3-1 setback.

McAuliffe led the Titans offense with 14 kills. Junior Evy Makris (Orland Park, Ill. - Sandburg) recorded 11 kills and senior Dana Kiszkowski (Schaumburg, Ill. - Schaumburg) added seven kills. The offensive unit finished the match with a .141 hitting percentage compared to Hope's .289 hitting percentage. The Flying Dutch produced a 63-44 kill total over IWU.

Sophomore Faith Wasko (Springfield, Ill. - Sacred Heart-Griffin) accumulated 19 kills to power the Titans defense. Senior Jessica McCall (Wayne, Ill. - Wheaton St. Francis) totaled 13 digs and junior Grace Sanders (Bloomington, Ill - Bloomington) grabbed 11. In the end, Hope held a 75-68 dig advantage.

Freshman Ava Porada (Frankfort, Ill. - Lincoln-Way East) had a team-high 18 assists. Senior Madi Corey (Frankfort, Ill. - Lincoln-Way East) tallied 16 assists.  

The Titans will hit the road for their next contest as they travel to Chicago to take on North Park University Wednesday, Sept. 29. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. at North Park Gymnasium.