BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan women's volleyball team will host its second of three home tournaments Saturday, Sept. 23. The Titans will be joined by Illinois College and second-ranked Hope College in a triangular inside the Shirk Center.

IWU (4-7) will take on IC (6-4) at 10:30 a.m. to kick off the triangular before closing the day against Hope (9-0) at 3:30 p.m. The Lady Blues and Flying Dutch will faceoff in the middle game, scheduled for 1 p.m.

Illinois Wesleyan enters the contest off a loss to College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin foe Carthage College Wednesday, Sept. 20. Junior Carly Kuehl (St. Louis, Mo.-Parkway West) tallied 10 kills on a .192 clip, while sophomore Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) added 13 kills on the night to go along with 10 digs. Junior Abby Erdman (Aurora, Ill.-Metea Valley) notched a team-best 19 assists. Senior Faith Washko (Springfield, Ill.-Sacred-Heart Griffin) led the team with 14 digs, while freshman Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) recorded three blocks. 

The Titan offense has been led by French, who's 191 kills and 4.44 kills per set average both rank seventh nationally. French also ranks eighth in points (216.5) and points per set (5.03). Senior Lily Summers (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield North) is second on the team in kills with 68. Freshman Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) leads the team with 202 assists, an average of 4.93 per set, while Erdman follows with 143. Washko and French have 19 and 18 aces, respectively, to sit at the top for the Green and White.

Defensively, Washko's 217 digs, an average of 5.05 per set,  is a team-high. French follows with 138, while Feeney rounds out the top-three with 92. Palmer leads the net defense with 28 total blocks on the season, averaging 0.67 per set. Senior Taylor Babec (Joliet, Ill.-Plainfield Central) closely follows with 24, and leads the team with seven solo rejections. 

Saturday morning's meeting will be the 20th meeting between the Titans and Lady Blues, with the series dating back to 1994. IWU holds a 15-4 advantage and is currently on a 10-game win streak in the series. The two teams most recently met Oct. 8, 2022, playing a neutral site game at the Washington University in St. Louis tournament. Illinois Wesleyan got the win in three sets, powered by eight kills and four blocks from Babec. Washko led the match with 23 digs, while Erdman recorded a match-high 21 assists. 

Illinois Wesleyan and Hope will meet for the ninth time, also dating back to the 1994 season. Hope holds the advantage in the series, 6-2, including the last meeting, Sept. 25, 2021, as the Titans fell in four sets. Washko, in her sophomore season at the time, led the team with 19 digs. 

The matches will be live streamed, which can be accessed by clicking here, while live stats can be found here. To access the tournament central, which has information regarding all three teams and matches, click here.