Women's Volleyball National Anthem before MSJ Sept. 8, 2023

Kodiak Creative

Women’s Volleyball Hosts North Park in CCIW Midweek Match

First serve scheduled for 6 p.m. inside Shirk Center

10/10/2023 1:00:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - After enjoying homecoming weekend off, the Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team will host 20th-ranked North Park University in a key College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin match Wednesday, Oct. 11. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. inside Shirk Center.

The Titans (7-9, 3-2 CCIW) enter the contest after falling in five sets to Millikin University Friday night, Oct. 6. Sophomore Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) led the offense with 19 kills and three aces, while freshman Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) and senior Lily Summers (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield North) added seven and six kills, respectively. Senior Jordan Pierce (Bonfield, Ill.-Herscher) orchestrated the majority of the offense, finishing with 29 assists, and added a career-high 15 digs to notch a double-double performance. Senior Faith Washko (Springfield, Ill.-Sacred-Heart Griffin) led the match with 26 digs.

Offensively, French, one of the nation's top offensive producers, leads the offense in kills (273), kills per set (4.33), points (311.5), and points per set (4.94), all of which rank within the top 20 nationally. Junior Carly Kuehl (St. Louis, Mo.-Parkway West) is second on the team with 94 kills, while Summers rounds out the top three with 85. Freshman Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) leads the team with 265 assists, while junior Abby Erdman (Aurora, Ill.-Metea Valley) sits in second with 170, and Pierce's 103 is the third-most. French has notched a team-high 30 service aces for the Green and White, while Washko closely follows with 26 on the season.

Washko leads the defense with 322 digs, while her 5.11 digs per set is good for the second-best average in the CCIW. French follows with 205 digs, while Feeney sits in third with 142. Making her net presence known, freshman Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) leads Illinois Wesleyan with 41 total blocks, a combination of 11 solo and 30 assisted rejections. Senior Taylor Babec (Joliet, Ill.-Plainfield Central) closely follows with 34, 10 of which have been solo stuffs. Shannon and junior Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) each have notched 16 on the season.

North Park (16-2, 4-0 CCIW) most recently defeated Saint Mary's College (Ind.) in straight sets Saturday, Oct. 7. Wednesday's battle will be the 39th meeting between the two teams, dating back to the 1994 season. IWU holds a commanding 36-2 advantage in the series, but NPU took the most recent meeting, winning in four sets Oct. 12, 2022. The Titans saw French explode for six aces while finishing with a team-high 15 kills on a .394 attack percentage, while she and Washko each tallied 23 digs in the match.

A live stream of the match can be found here, while live stats can be accessed by clicking here.

Print Friendly Version