BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team is set to host the second of three home tournaments over homecoming weekend Friday-Saturday, Sept. 23-24. Including the Titans (8-2, 2-0 CCIW), the tournament will feature a competitive field of five teams, Aurora University, Heidelberg University, No. 15 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and No. 6 Washington University in St. Louis.

IWU will face WashU (13-0, 3-0 UAA) in its tournament opener on Friday, Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. On the second day, Illinois Wesleyan will play Heidelberg (5-7) and No. 15 UW-Whitewater (12-2, 2-0 WIAC) at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively. 

The Titans enter the tournament off a midweek College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin victory over Carthage College in four sets (18-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-21). The Bears also picked up a midweek, four-set victory over Greenville University. Heidelberg enters after dropping its match against Denison University on Wednesday, 3-1. The Warhawks come into town after defeating No. 12 University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Wednesday night in a five set thriller. 

As a team, IWU has accumulated 443 kills, 415 of those coming off assists. Freshman Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) leads the team with 131 kills, for an average of 3.45 kills per set. French also leads the team with 22 service aces. Sophomore Abby Erdman (Aurora, Ill.-Metea Valley) leads the Green and White with 199 assists, followed closely by freshman Katie Gund (Pewaukee, Wis.-Pewaukee) with 157. 

On the defensive side, junior Faith Washko (Springfield, Ill.-Springfield) has accumulated a team-leading 221 digs in her start to a stellar junior campaign. Senior Evy Makris (Orland Park, Ill.-Sandburg) and junior Taylor Babec (Joliet, Ill.-Plainfield Central) have wreaked havoc at the net, blocking 31 and 29 attacks, respectively. 

More information, including a full schedule, of the Illinois Wesleyan Classic II can be found on IWU's Tournament Central page, here. Live video of each match can be accessed here, and live stats for each match can be accessed here.  

To stay up-to-date on the Titans, be sure to follow @IWUVolleyball on Twitter, @iwuwvolleyball on Instagram, and IWU Titan Volleyball on Facebook.