Women's Volleyball Pregame Handshake line vs. Chicago Oct. 27, 2023

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Women’s Volleyball Slated for CCIW Tournament Semifinals at North Park

First serve scheduled for 7 p.m.

11/8/2023 12:11:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - After taking down Augustana College in four sets Tuesday night, Nov. 7, the Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team will travel to 15th-seed North Park University for a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Semifinal Thursday, Nov. 9. Action is set to begin at 7 p.m.

The Titans (17-12) enter the contest as the fourth seed in the tournament, whereas North Park (23-6) earned the top seed after going 8-0 in CCIW action during the regular season. North Park enjoyed a bye in the first round of the tournament. Illinois Wesleyan was powered by sophomore Taylor French's (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) career-high 29 kills in Tuesday night's contest. Also playing a crucial part in the victory were seniors Jordan Pierce (Bonfield, Ill.-Herscher) and Lily Summers (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield North). Pierce finished with a career-high 48 assists, while Summers posted a career-best 17 digs. French and senior Faith Washko (Springfield, Ill.-Sacred Heart-Griffin) led the team with 19 digs apiece.

One of the nation's top offensive threats, French leads the nation in kills and points with 555 and 622, respectively. Her 5.41 points per set average ranks fourth, while her 4.83 kills per set is the fifth-highest across Division III. Summers ranks second for the Titans with 189 kills, while junior Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) rounds out the top three with 165. Pierce leads the Green and White with 530 assists. Freshman Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) has added 331, and junior Abby Erdman (Aurora, Ill.-Metea Valley) closes the top three with 191.

Defensively, French and Washko lead the Titans with 399 and 350 digs, respectively, with Washko averaging a team-best 5.07 digs per set. Feeney's 225 are the third-most on the squad. Amid a strong freshman campaign, Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) has recorded a team-best 69 blocks, 17 of which have been solo rejections. Also leading the strong net presence are senior Taylor Babec (Joliet, Ill.-Plainfield Central) and Harrington with 58 and 38, respectively.

Meeting for the 40th time Thursday, IWU holds a commanding 36-3 advantage in the all-time series against the Vikings. NPU took this year's regular season meeting in five sets Wednesday, Oct. 11, and has won the last two matchups. French posted a 21-kill, 21-dig double-double performance, while sophomore Raegan Watts (Forsyth, Ill.-Maroa Forsyth) led the defense with 22 digs.

The match will be live streamed, which can be found here, and live stats can be accessed here.

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