AURORA, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team picked up a win on the road against Aurora University, Friday, Sept. 16,  making it the fifth win in a row for the Green and White (7-2, 1-0 CCIW). The Titans narrowly defeated the Spartans (5-4, 1-0 NACC) in four sets (20-25, 27-25, 25-23, 25-23), picking up their first win against Aurora since 2018.

In the first set of the match, the Titans found themselves down 14-6 before freshman Raegan Watts (Forsyth, Ill.-Maroa Forsyth) went on a four-serve run to help pull the Green and White back within three points. The run was led by two kills and a block from sophomore Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East). The comeback wasn't enough in the match opener, as the Spartans held onto their lead until the end. 

Illinois Wesleyan quickly regrouped to edge AU and took the second set. The Titans found themselves up 24-20 before a late Spartan comeback pushed the game into extra points. Senior Dana Kiszkowski (Schaumburg, Ill.-Schaumburg) put things away for the Titans, burying the last point to tie the match at one set apiece. 

Aurora jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the third set, but the Titans battled back to tie things up at 11. IWU took control from that point and never saw themselves trailing. 

In the final set of the match, the two teams went back-and-forth until it was all tied up at six. The Titans pounced on a pair of Spartan attack errors and a kill from freshman Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) to give them a 9-6 lead, and from that point on commanded the game. 

The Green and White recorded 12 blocks, eight of those rejections coming from senior Evy Makris (Orland Park, Ill.-Sandburg), tying her career-best. Harrington, Kiszkowski and junior Taylor Babecb (Joliet, Ill.-Plainfield Central) assisted Makris at the front, each recording four assisted blocks. Faith Washko (Springfield, Ill.-Sacred Heart-Griffin) continued her stellar junior campaign with 27 digs. 

On the offensive side, French once again paved the way for the Titans, leading the team with 13 kills. That paired with her 15 digs gave French her sixth double-double performance in the first nine games of her freshman campaign. Babec and Harrington each contributed 11 kills to the Titan offense. Sophomore Abby Erdman (Aurora, Ill.-Metea Valley) and freshman Katie Gund (Pewaukee, Wis.-Pewaukee) made the offensive attack possible, as they had 26 and 22 assists, respectively.

The next game for the Green and White will be on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at Carthage College. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. Both times the two teams faced last year, Illinois Wesleyan walked away with a sweep.