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Lily Summers amid one of her 14 digs against UW-Eau Claire Oct. 28, 2023
Kodiak Creative
1
Wis.-Eau Claire UWEC 13-13,2-4 WIAC
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 14-12,5-3 CCIW
Wis.-Eau Claire UWEC
13-13,2-4 WIAC
1
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
14-12,5-3 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Wis.-Eau Claire UWEC 18 23 25 18 (1)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 25 20 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Women’s Volleyball Boasts Win Over Blugolds

Titans extend win streak to seven

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Hosting its third and final tournament of the 2023 season, the Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team completed a 2-0 weekend at home with a four-set victory over the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Saturday, Oct. 28 finishing with set scores 25-18, 25-23, 20-25, 25-18. The Titans pick up their seventh straight victory, upping their record to 14-12 overall, while UWEC slips to 13-13. 

Illinois Wesleyan posted 59 kills on a .218 attack percentage, while limiting the Blugolds to 39 kills on a .150 clip. IWU also held advantages in assists (54-38), and digs (71-63), but UW-Eau Claire had the upperhand in aces (8-7) and blocks (7-3). 

Leading the Titan offense was sophomore Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East), as she finished with 24 kills on a scorching .391 attack percentage. Senior Lily Summers (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield North) added 11 on a .222 clip, while senior Taylor Babec (Joliet, Ill.-Plainfield Central) and junior Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) each added seven. 

Senior Jordan Pierce (Bonfield, Ill.-Herscher) orchestrated the majority of the offense, finishing with a match-high 41 assists. The senior added four kills and two aces to her offensive statline. French and freshman Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) also added a pair of aces for the Green and White.

Freshman Olivia deGuzman (Wauwatosa, Wis.-Divine Savior Holy Angels) paced the Titan defense, as she recorded a career-high 21 digs, smashing her previous best of 16 set earlier this week. Summers added 14, tying her career-best, en route to notching her second career double-double performance. French and Pierce also finished with double-double performances, as they accumulated 12 and 10 digs, respectively. 

French and Pierce earned all-tournament honors after two dominant performances. The duo joins University of Chicago's Maggie McInerney and Diya Mishra, Millikin University's Kailee Itzenhuiser, and Charlie Nelson from UWEC.

The first set French put the Titans on the board, utilizing a pass from Pierce to do so. The two teams traded points, until IWU broke free with the score tied at 13 apiece. A French kill ignited a 7-1 run for the Green and White. A bad set by UWEC followed, and freshman Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) notched three kills in four points, as French wedged an ace into the mix, upping the score to 20-14. Summers registered a kill to push set point, and Pierce recorded one of her four kills to take the first, 25-18.

With the second set tied at nine all, Pierce sparked a 5-0 run for the Green and White, as she snuck in a kill off a French dig, and followed with an ace. French recorded a kill of her own, before an attack error and a Pierce ace upped the score to 14-8 in favor of the home team. 

With the score at 29-15, UWEC went on a 6-0 run to take control of the match, 21-19, but Babec notched a crucial sideout on a kill to bring the set back to within one. After a Blugolds kill, French put the Titans back on track, as the Green and White closed out the second set by taking five of the last six points, winning the second, 25-23. 

After dropping the third set, 25-20, Illinois Wesleyan quickly recouped to begin the fourth. The two squads traded points until back-to-back kills from French, followed by a UW-Eau Claire miscue, pushed the Titans out in front 10-7, and the home team never lost control. French added two straight kills, and Babec followed with one of her own to push the lead to six, 19-13. Harrington put the set at match point with her seventh kill of the evening, and deGumzan closed the match out with an ace, as the Titans took the fourth set 25-18.

Illinois Wesleyan stays home, hosting Webster University Wednesday, Nov. 1. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside the Shirk Center. 
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