BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team's comeback effort was thwarted by 16th-ranked University of Chicago inside the Shirk Center Wednesday night, Sept. 8. The Titans went down in four sets by scores of 25-13, 17-25, 26-15, and 25-21 to dip to 4-2, with Chicago rising to 3-1 on the season.
 
Offense powered both sides, as the better hitting team won each of the four sets. Chicago hit a match-best .552 in the opening set, before IWU responded with a .310 to .031 attacking percentage to even the match at one all. The Maroons went on to take the final two sets, despite late pushes from the Titans.
 
Leading the way for the Titans was senior Courtney McAuliffe (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont). The middle hitter recorded a match-high 15 kills on an impressive .407 clip, while also adding eight blocks and a dig. Freshman Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) added eight kills, three digs, and two blocks.
 
Junior Grace Sanders (Bloomington, Ill.-Bloomington) paced IWU with 16 digs. Seniors Amber Juarez (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal U High) and Madi Corey (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) followed with 14 and 12, respectively. Corey also added 16 assists, while freshman Ava Porada (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) notched a season-high 21 assists.
 
As a team the Titans hit .130 for the match compared to the Maroon's .220 clip. IWU held a 12-8 advantage in blocks, but UC led in digs (67-61), kills (45-40), and aces (11-5).
 
Illinois Wesleyan continues its five-match homestand this weekend, Friday-Saturday, Sept. 10-11 as host of the Holiday Inn Express Classic I. IWU kicks off the weekend against Monmouth College Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m., before facing off against No. 11 Ohio Northern University at 7 p.m.