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Women’s Volleyball Sweeps Chicago

French eclipses 1000 career points

10/27/2023 8:52:00 PM

Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team used a strong all-around effort to sweep the University of Chicago Friday night, Oct. 27, inside the Shirk Center. Illinois Wesleyan, which ran its win streak to six in-a-row, upped its record to 13-12, while Chicago stumbled to 8-14.

The Green and White saw four players finish with seven-or-more kills on the night. Senior Taylor Babec (Joliet, Ill.-Plainfield Central) and Jordan Pierce (Bonfield, Ill.-Herscher) along with junior Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) tallied seven kills apiece. Pierce hit a whopping .636, while Harrington accumulated a .353 clip. Sophomore Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) led the Titans with 15 kills on a .257 attacking percentage as she climbed above 1000 career points. Pierce churned out 32 assists in the match and added four digs to complete her stat line.

French topped IWU with 18 digs to record her 17th double-double of the season. Freshman Olivia deGuzman (Wauwatosa, Wis.-Divine Savior Holy Angels) added 15 digs, with senior Lily Summers (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield North) tying her career-high of 14.

Babec paced the IWU blocking effort, with three rejections, while freshman Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) and Summers added two apiece. Palmer was also credited with five kills on a .364 clip.

As a team, the Titans more than doubled the Maroons in attacking percentage with IWU hitting .223 to UC's .110 clip. The Green and White finished with a 46-28 advantage in kills, a 61-43 lead in digs, and a 6-2 edge in aces. Chicago collected 10 blocks to Illinois Wesleyan's five.

Chicago used a five-point run to jump ahead 9-7, but Illinois Wesleyan fought its way back. With deGuzman serving, IWU responded with a three-point run to reclaim the lead, 10-9, on a Summers kill. Babec put down a roll for a kill on a wild out-of-system rally to kick start another IWU run as the Titans forced a Maroons timeout with their lead at 16-10. A monstrous kill from French upped the lead to double-digits, 21-11, as IWU rolled to a 25-13 win.

The Maroons scored the first three points of the second set, but a French kill got the Titans going. Palmer followed with a kill of her own before joining forces with Pierce for a rejection to level the score at three all. Harrington and Babec partnered for a block to break a 10-10 tie. From there, IWU used a deGuzman ace to force a UC timeout with the Illinois Wesleyan lead at three, 20-17. A Pierce kill pushed the score to match point, where a Chicago serving error completed the set, 25-20.

The third was the tightest set of the night, as the Maroons led 20-19, forcing the Titans to call a timeout. Harrington came up huge out of the reset, tipping down the line over the block to knot the score. She and Babec followed with back-to-back kills to extend the Titan advantage, 22-20. Chicago clawed back out of a timeout of its own, pulling within one, but Harrington's seventh kill of the evening put things at match point, 24-22. Illinois Wesleyan closed out the match as Feeney put up a set for a Pierce kill, completing the sweep, 25-22.

Illinois Wesleyan returns to the court tomorrow, Oct. 28, at 3 p.m. against the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

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