BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team is set to start its College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin season in the Shirk Center on Wednesday, Sept. 14 with first serve at 7 p.m. The Titans (5-2) will take on Carroll University to begin their quest at defending their conference championship title. 

Illinois Wesleyan is coming off a 3-0 weekend in the first of three home tournaments. The Titans landed three on the Illinois Wesleyan Classic I All-Tournament team, freshman Taylor French (Romeoville, Illl.-Plainfield East), sophomore Abby Erdman (Aurora, Ill.-Metea Valley), and the MVP of the tournament, Faith Washko (Springfield, Ill.-Sacred Heart-Griffin). Meanwhile, Carroll enters the midweek clash with a record of 4-4 after competing at the Coe College Tournament. There, the Pioneers beat Buena Vista University and dropped matches to University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Cornell College, and the host Coe College.  

French opened the tournament with an astounding 24 kills against Concordia University Wisconsin, a new career-high for the freshman. She finished with 53 kills in the tournament, giving her an average of 4.1 per set. The following day, Washko found herself with 40 digs in the four-set win over Greenville University, a new Titan record for digs in a four-set match. Washko ended the weekend with 84 total digs, averaging an impressive 6.5 per set, leading her to be crowned the invite's MVP. Erdman had what looked to be a career-high 27 assists on Friday, but followed it up by beating that mark with 30 assists the next morning against the Panthers (3-4). 

Illinois Wesleyan and Carroll have met eight times prior to Wednesday night's league opener, with the Titans holding a 7-1 advantage of the Pioneers. The last time the two teams faced off, the Green and White won in four sets (15-25, 25-13, 25-18, 27-25). IWU is currently riding a three-match win streak against CU, including sweeps in each of the past two meetings.

The match will be livestreamed, which can be accessed here. Live stats can be found here. Make sure to follow @IWUVolleyball on Twitter, @iwuwvolleyball on Instagram, and IWU Titan Volleyball on Facebook to stay up-to-date on the Titans.