BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team will travel to St. Louis, Mo. Oct. 8 to take on Illinois College and Luther College at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively in a tournament hosted by Washington University in St. Louis.

Illinois Wesleyan (10-7, 2-2 CCIW) looks to bounce back from a five-set loss to North Central College Wednesday night, Oct. 5. (25-15, 20-25, 20-25, 31-29, 10-15). IC (7-11, 2-1 MWC) enters off a win over Dominican University Oct. 4, and Luther (5-13, 0-3 ARC) comes in after defeating Saint Mary's University Oct. 5.

The Titans have a 14-4 advantage over the Lady Blues and have won the last nine battles, all of which were in sweeping fashion. The last time the two teams matched up was in the season opener last year on Sept. 1, 2021. Illinois Wesleyan made quick work over IC, winning with scores 25-20, 25-14, 25-17. Then-freshman Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) posted a match-high four blocks in her collegiate debut.

The matchup against Luther will mark the fourth meeting between the two teams, and the first since 2009. Luther holds a slight 2-1 advantage over IWU.

Freshman Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) leads the Titans with 244 kills, good for an average of 3.64 per set. French's 43 aces for an average of 0.64 per set leads the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. Sophomore Abby Erdman (Aurora, Ill.-Metea Valley) and freshman Katie Gund (Pewaukee, Wis.-Pewaukee) have orchestrated the Titan offense with 361 and 182 assists, respectively. 

Defensively, junior Faith Washko (Springfield, Ill.-Sacred Heart-Griffin) leads the Green and White with 366 digs for a CCIW-best 5.46 digs per set. Junior Taylor Babec (Joliet, Ill.-Plainfield Central) has a team-high 55 blocks, 16 of them coming from solo rejections. 

The match against Illinois College will have a live stream, which can be accessed here, and live stats can be found here.