BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team will make the trek back to Wisconsin for the 10th annual Sandy Schumacher Memorial Tournament, hosted by University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Friday-Saturday, Sept. 15-16. 

The Titans (2-5) will face Wartburg College Friday night, Sept. 15, at 5 p.m. to open the tournament. The second day will see IWU battle Buena Vista University and Hamline University Saturday, Sept. 16, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively. 

Illinois Wesleyan enters the tournament after taking down Carroll University in four sets Wednesday night, Sept. 13, to open College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play. Freshman Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) finished with six kills on a .556 attack percentage, and added four blocks. Senior Faith Washko (Springfield, Ill.-Sacred-Heart Griffin) led the back row defense, compiling a match-high 31 digs for an average of 7.75 digs per set. Sophomore Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) paced the offense with 15 kills and three aces.

Through the first seven games of the season, French has led the Green and White offense, totaling 121 kills for an average of 4.17 kills per set. Junior Carly Kuehl (St. Louis, Mo.-Parkway West) is second with 41 kills, while senior Taylor Babec (Joliet, Ill.-Plainfield Central) rounds out the top-three with 38. Freshman Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) and junior Abby Erdman (Aurora, Ill.-Metea Valley) have orchestrated the majority of the offense, recording 132 and 88 assists, respectively. 

On the defensive side, Washko leads the team with 148 digs, an average of 5.10 digs per set. French trails with 96, and Feeney sits third with 61. Making a presence in the front row, Palmer has a team-high 15 total blocks, an average of 0.52 blocks per set. Babec closely follows with 13 total, while both have recorded three solo rejections. Junior Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) closes out the top-three on net defense with eight total blocks. A total of eight Titans have recorded at least one rejection in the young season. 

Friday's match against Wartburg (3-6) will be the 10th meeting all time, with the series dating back to 2002. Illinois Wesleyan holds a 4-1 advantage, but dropped the most recent meeting Oct. 18, 2013, in three sets. BVU (4-5) and IWU will meet for the third time since 2009. The Titans have been victorious in both previous meetings, including the last matchup, Sept. 25, 2010, using all five sets to secure the win. The Green and White will face Hamline (2-4) for the first time in program history. 

UW-Eau Claire will be providing live stats for each match, which can be found by clicking here. A link to tournament central can be accessed here, while tickets for the tournament can be bought here. 

To stay up-to-date on the women's volleyball team, be sure to follow @iwuwvolleyball on Instagram, @IWUVolleyball on Twitter, IWU Titan Volleyball on Facebook, and @iwusports on all social media platforms.