BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Continuing its stretch of games on the road, Illinois Wesleyan University's women's volleyball team will make the 300-mile trip to Stevens Point, Wis. for the WIAC-CCIW Crossover Tournament Friday-Saturday, Oct. 21-22. University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is hosting the two-day tournament.
The Titans (12-9, 2-4 CCIW) will face the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Friday night, Oct. 21, at 5 p.m, then finish the first day of the tournament against No. 15 University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 7:30 p.m. IWU closes its trip with a match against the University of Wisconsin-Stout at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22.
Illinois Wesleyan enters the tournament after dropping its match to Elmhurst University Wednesday night, Oct. 19. The Titans fell in four sets with scores of 20-25, 25-19, 25-19, and 29-27. UW-La Crosse (10-15, 1-5 WIAC) most recently dropped its match to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Oct. 19, losing in straight sets (25-22, 25-13, 25-23).
No. 15 UW-Stevens Point (19-6, 3-3 WIAC) also suffered a sweep Oct. 19, losing to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville 25-21, 25-10, and 25-22. UW-Stout (11-13, 1-5 WIAC) lost a five-set battle to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Oct. 19, with set scores 18-25, 22-25, 27-25, 25-15, and 15-12.
Freshman Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) leads the Green and White offense with 277 kills in 78 sets. Her 3.55 kills per set average is second-best in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin behind North Park's Adrianna Rodriguez's 5.00 kills per set average. The Romeoville, Ill. native leads the conference in service aces with an average of 0.64 per set.
Defensively, junior Faith Washko (Springfield, Ill.-Sacred Heart-Griffin) leads the league in digs with an average of 5.52 per set. The Springfield, Ill. product has recorded 447 digs in her strong junior campaign. Junior Taylor Babec (Joliet, Ill.-Plainfield Central) has a team-high 67 blocks in her breakout season, good for an average of 0.84 blocks per set.
IWU will be tested with strong competition this weekend, as it will face the Pointers' Ashley Kopp, one of the nations most dominant attackers. Kopp leads the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with 435 kills in 95 sets for an average of 4.58 per set. Following her is UW-Stout's Sidney Hoverman with an average of 3.85 kills per set. Hoverman has recorded 331 kills in 86 sets in the 2022 season.
UW-Stevens Point will be streaming the tournament. The link for Friday's matches can be found here, and Saturday's match can be accessed here. Live stats can be found here.
