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Lily Summers celebrates. a point against North Park Oct. 11, 2023
© AshtinElder
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 12-12,5-3 CCIW
1
Wheaton (IL) WHEIL 9-11,1-6 CCIW
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
12-12,5-3 CCIW
3
Final
1
Wheaton (IL) WHEIL
9-11,1-6 CCIW
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 25 25 25 (3)
Wheaton (IL) WHEIL 27 22 18 22 (1)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Women’s Volleyball Wins Final CCIW Clash at Wheaton

Titans improve to 5-3 in league play

WHEATON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team took an exciting four-set victory at College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin foe Wheaton College Wednesday night, Oct. 25, winning with set scores of 25-27, 25-22, 25-18, 25-22. With the win, the Titans improve to 12-12 overall, and 5-3 in conference action. Wheaton drops to 9-11 overall, and 1-6 in league play.

As a team, IWU recorded 54 kills on a .216 attack percentage, while Wheaton finished with 48 on a .189 clip. The Titans finished with 13 aces, compared to WC's seven, and held advantages in assists (49-44) as well as digs (63-61). The Thunder notched six blocks to Illinois Wesleyan's four. 

After winning her second-straight CCIW Hitter of the Week, sophomore Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) continued her dominant season with a match-high 24 kills on a .246 attack percentage. Seniors Lily Summers (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield North) and Taylor Babec (Joliet, Ill.-Plainfield Central) each finished with eight, while freshman Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) added six. Senior Annika Altekruse (Naperville, Ill.-Matea Valley) came off the bench adding five kills on a hefty .714 clip. 

Senior Jordan Pierce (Bonfield, Ill.-Herscher) orchestrated the offense with 32 assists. Summers crushed her career-high, as she finished with a team-best four aces, while four Titans recorded a pair. 

Defensively, freshman Olivia deGuzman (Wauwatosa, Wis.-Divine Savior Holy Angels) led the team with a career-best 16 digs. French finished second on the team with 12 digs as she notched her 16th double-double performance of the season. Palmer led the net defense with three total blocks, while French added two, and a trio of Titans recorded one.

After dropping the first set, the Titans quickly recouped in the second. Down 13-9, head coach Kim Nelson-Brown called her first timeout of the set, leading to an 8-1 run. Feeney found French to ignite the comeback, followed by one of Babec's two aces. French sandwiched a Thunder miscue with two more kills before Wheaton could muster a sideout at 14 apiece. IWU pounced on a Thunder attack error, as Pierce recorded an ace and Palmer notched a kill, forcing WC to call a timeout with the score in favor of IWU, 17-14. 

Out of the timeout, French and Palmer combined for a block, but Wheaton came back to take the next four points, bringing the score within one at 18-17. Illinois Wesleyan ended the run, rattling off three-straight points, via a French kill and ace, and a WC error. The set remained competitive until French set the Titans up for set point, and an attack error gave the Green and White the second set, 25-22. 

The third set opened with back-and-forth action until French ignited a 4-1 run, pushing the score to 7-3. After a sideout, Altekruse buried her first kill of the night, as the Titans won four of the next five points to take a 12-6 advantage, forcing Wheaton to call its first timeout of the set. 

A Thunder run brought the score back within two, 19-17, but Altekruse ended it with a kill to begin a string of five-straight points for the Green and White. Summers followed with a kill, and deGuzman added an ace in between two Wheaton miscues, forcing match point. Altekruse and Babec paired up for a block to end the third set to put IWU up two sets to one. 

Dropping the first point in the fourth, Babec opened the scoring for the Titans with a kill. Amid a close set, French evened the score at 12 apiece with a kill, and back-to-back WC attack errors put IWU up 14-12. Wheaton battled back to bring the score to 19-all, but Summers cracked open a three-point run for the Green and White with a kill, and Feeney's ace brought the score to 22-19. Palmer buried a dish from Feeney to secure the victory for the Green and White with a final set score of 25-22. 

Illinois Wesleyan returns home, as the Titans host the Illinois Wesleyan Classic II Friday-Saturday, Oct. 27-28. IWU will open the tournament against the University of Chicago Friday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m., before facing University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Saturday, Oct. 28, at 3 p.m.
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