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Raegan Watts collects a dig against Illinois College Sept. 23, 2023
© AshtinElder
2
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 7-9,3-2 CCIW
3
Winner Millikin MIL-U 13-6,3-1 CCIW
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
7-9,3-2 CCIW
2
Final
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Millikin MIL-U
13-6,3-1 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 21 19 25 9 (2)
Millikin MIL-U 20 25 25 21 15 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Women’s Volleyball Comeback Stymied by Big Blue

Titans will take weekend off to enjoy homecoming weekend

DECATUR, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University fell in five sets at Millikin University Friday night, Oct. 6. The Titans (7-9, 3-2 CCIW) took the first set of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin match, but the Big Blue (13-6, 3-1 CCIW) won the second, third, and fifth to upend IWU, 3-2 (20-25, 25-21, 25-19, 21-25, 15-9).

As a team, Millikin held advantages in kills (58-48), assists (55-48), and attack percentage (.161-.098), while the Titans held the upperhand in digs (90-83). Each team finished with five aces and four total blocks. 

Sophomore Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) led the Titans with 19 kills, while freshman Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) posted seven to finish second on the team. Senior Jordan Pierce (Bonfield, Ill.-Hercher) orchestrated the majority of the offense, finishing with 29 assists, while adding four kills. 

On the defensive side, senior Faith Washko (Springfield, Ill.-Sacred-Heart Griffin) compiled a match-high 26 digs. Pierce notched 15 to complete a double-double performance, good for second on the team and a new career-best, while sophomore Raegan Watts (Forsyth, Ill.-Maroa Forsyth) also finished with a career-high, accumulating 15 digs. Freshman Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) registered a team-high three blocks, all of which were solo rejections. 

Illinois Wesleyan capitalized on a strong defensive showing and Big Blue miscues in the first set, holding the home team to a .089 attack percentage to open the match. The Titans recorded three blocks, opening with a strong net presence, while forcing nine attack errors and three service errors from the Big Blue. Down 16-14, head coach Kim Nelson-Brown burned her first timeout to regroup. 

Coming out of the timeout, IWU tied the set at 16 all, as Millikin recorded back-to-back attack errors. The two teams traded points, but a Summers kill to put the Titans up, 18-17, ignited three straight points for the Green and White. After MU brought the score to within one, Pierce notched a kill, while a Big Blue miscue and a French kill provided the Titans a 23-19 lead, and forced Millikin to call its second, and final, timeout of the set. French posted another kill to force set point, and a Millikin service error locked in the first set for the Green and White, 25-20. 

The Big Blue bounced back to take the second and third sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-19, to move ahead in the match two sets to one. 

In a must-win set, Illinois Wesleyan found itself in a 2-0 hole to begin the fourth, but kills from Summers and Shannon quickly evened the score at a pair. Millikin held the advantage in the set until Palmer posted a solo block to bring the score to 14 all. 

Summers rejected a Millikin attack to give the visitors a 16-15 advantage and break a series of back-and-forth action. The Titans never trailed the rest of the set, closing it out 25-21 to force a fifth.

Illinois Wesleyan held the upperhand in the early goings, using kills by French and Shannon, along with a French ace to double up MU, 6-3. The Big Blue broke the run with a timeout, and promptly scored three straight points to level the score at six all. Momentum swung in favor of the home team from there, as Millikin managed to hold off the Green and White, 15-9, to take the five-set match.

The Titans return home for a CCIW clash with 20th-ranked North Park University Wednesday, Oct. 11, following the homecoming weekend. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. inside the Shirk Center.
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