WATERVILLE, Maine - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team ran its win streak to four Saturday, Oct. 21, with a pair of wins at the Colby College Tournament. Illinois Wesleyan (11-12) defeated Colby (15-6) in four sets (25-22, 25-22, 14-25, 25-16) as the Titans snapped the Mules eight-match win streak. IWU then closed out its northeast slate with a three-set sweep of Endicott College as the Green and White bested the Sea Gulls (9-11) 27-25, 25-14, 25-11.
Illinois Wesleyan 3, Colby 1
After winning the first two sets, the Titans stumbled to a 25-14 loss in the third, but bounced back to finish the match in four. Coming out with a regained fire, three straight Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) kills and a
Taylor Babec (Joliet, Ill.-Plainfield Central) service ace forced an early Colby timeout. The Green and White boosted its lead to nine on French's kill from freshman
Olivia deGuzman (Wauwatosa, Wis.-Divine Savior Holy Angels) to move ahead, 19-10. The Mules strung together a brief run late, but it was not enough as senior
Lily Summers (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield North) notched a kill to give IWU the win, 25-16.
French paced the Titans in kills, digs, and aces in their first match of the day. French put up game-highs of 24 kills, 19 digs, and three aces to lead IWU to the four-set victory. Babec and junior Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) added seven kills apiece, while Babec also topped the team with two rejections.
Defensively, French was one of five players to finish with double-digit digs. Making the start at libero, sophomore Halle Smith (Farina, Ill.-South Central) collected a career-high 15 digs, more than doubling her previous personal-best. Senior
Jordan Pierce (Bonfield, Ill.-Herscher) registered a 34-assists, 14-dig double-double. deGuzman and
Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) notched 11 digs apiece, with deGuzman coming one shy of her career-high.
Illinois Wesleyan 3, Endicott 0
Six players finished with four-or-more kills in the match, led by French's 11. Summers added eight, while Harrington notched seven on a .545 attacking percentage. Pierce and sophomore Katie Gund (Pewaukee, Wis.-Pewaukee) dished out 12 assists apiece, while Summers led the Titans with 12 digs. Babec led the Titans with three aces, while she tied Palmer for the team lead with three blocks.
IWU held a commanding advantage offensively, tallying 40 kills to Endicott's 21. The Titans did so on a .255 attacking percentage, while limiting the Sea Gulls to a .011 clip. Illinois Wesleyan also recorded leads in digs (43-35) and aces (8-2), with blocks finishing even at seven.
Falling behind 18-13 in the first, IWU put on a display of grit and it battled back to take the set, 27-25. A five-point run pulled Illinois Wesleyan within one, 21-20. Kills from Summers, Babec, and French evened the score at 25 all. The Green and White used a sneaky kill from Pierce and a Babec ace to close out the comeback, capping a 6-2 run to the finish.
Illinois Wesleyan's momentum carried into the second, where the Titans notched three blocks and limited the Sea Gulls to a -.091 attacking percentage, en route to winning handily, 25-14.
The Green and White completed the sweep in the third, overpowering Endicott, 25-11. The Titans hit a whopping .324 in the set, finishing with 14 kills and five aces.
Illinois Wesleyan remains on the road for its final of four straight road matches Wednesday, Oct. 25, as the Titans travel to Wheaton, Ill. There, IWU will battle Wheaton College in its College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin finale. First serve is set for 7 p.m. inside King Arena.
