ELMHURST, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team ran its win streak to seven with wins over Wartburg College and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Friday, Oct. 11, at Elmhurst University's R.A. Faganel Hall. IWU (14-5) outlasted Wartburg (12-6) in five sets, before sweeping UW-River Falls (8-13) to end the night.

The Titans took down the Knights by set scores of 25-22, 25-14, 23-25, 15-25, 15-8, evading a comeback attempt by Wartburg. Illinois Wesleyan defeated UW-River Falls decisively, 25-20, 25-21, 25-17 to finish off the day's competition. 

Illinois Wesleyan 3, Wartburg 2
Junior Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) became the eighth player in program history to eclipse 1000 kills and 1000 digs in a career. French, who accomplished the kills milestone earlier this season, registered her 1000th career dig on her second of the match. In all, French finished the match with 11 digs and a match-high 19 kills on a .214 clip. She also added three aces.

Senior Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) totaled 13 kills on a .273 attacking percentage and freshman Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) notched a dozen kills.

Senior Abby Erdman (Aurora, Ill.-Metea Valley) dished out 26 assists as part of a double-double that also included 12 digs, while sophomore Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) added 19 assists and three aces. 

Junior Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) racked up 26 digs, a match-high, and was credited with nine assists. The Titans' defensive effort was aided by junior Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) and sophomore Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep), who added four and three blocks, respectively.

Overall, Illinois Wesleyan hit .204 for the match to Wartburg's .146 clip. IWU held leads in kills (63-49), assists (59-46), aces (9-5), digs (75-66) and blocks (8-6).

After squeaking out a 25-22 win in the opening set, Illinois Wesleyan dominated the Knights in set two. IWU used a .406 to .111 advantage in attacking percentage and a 3-0 edge in aces to down WC, 25-14. 

A kill from sophomore Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) doubled up the Knights, 6-3, before a four-point Titan run fueled Illinois Wesleyan ahead, 15-8. The spurt was capped off by a Boyd ace to force a Wartburg timeout. The Knights took the first point out of the reset, but a kill by Harrington and an ace from Feeney kept the Green and White rolling. 

After a pair of Wartburg errors, French notched a kill to extend the lead to double digits, 20-10. A three-point run that featured kills by Shannon and Harrington pushed the score to set point, where Erdman set Palmer for the set-clinching kill.

The Titans scored the first four points of the third set as back-to-back kills and an ace by French were followed by a Wartburg attack error. The Knights responded with three points in a row, but Harrington slammed down a point to break the run.

French rolled a set from Harrington up and over the Wartburg block to give IWU a five-point cushion, 13-8, but the Knights used five straight points to level the score at 13. The two teams traded points from there, but ultimately WC pulled away, 25-23.

The Knights notched a 25-15 win in the fourth to force a fifth set, where a Bardouniotis back-row kill pushed the Titans ahead, 3-1. 

After a Tellor ace, a series of rally-saving digs by Boyd and an undeniable net presence led by Palmer allowed IWU to extend its lead to 5-2.

Out of a Warburg timeout, Palmer set a ball for Bardouniotis, which the freshman slammed down the line for a 7-3 Titan advantage.

The Knights were forced to burn the second and final timeout with the Green and White in front, 12-5,  but it did little to slow the Titans. A hammer from Tellor to the center of the court and an ace from Bardouniotis pushed the score to match point, while a Wartburg miscue finished off a 15-8 fifth-set triumph for IWU.

Illinois Wesleyan 3, UW-River Falls 0
The Green and White came out on top in a defensive battle with UW-River Falls in its final match of the day, defeating the Falcons in straight sets. IWU hit .181 with 35 kills, while UWRF was limited to -0.034 with 26 kills and 30 errors. The Titans also mounted leads in assists, 33-24, and digs, 50-45, while each team finished with seven blocks. The Falcons recorded a 7-3 advantage from the service line.

French led the Titans with a 13-kill, 10-dig double-double, while Feeney dished out a team-high 17 assists to go along with nine digs. Like Feeney, Erdman narrowly missed out on a double-double with 10 helpers and eight digs. 

Boyd once again paced the defense, racking up a team-leading 13 digs. Tellor added five blocks, with Shannon tallying three and Palmer adding two.

The Titans hit a whopping .406 in the opening set to take control. Illinois Wesleyan used a four-point run to climb ahead, 10-7, as UW-River Falls burned a timeout. The reset proved timely as the Falcons fought back to level the set at 10-all, but Bardouniotis' kill on Feeney's assist got the Titans back on track. Tellor and Shannon teammed up for a rejection at the net and a UW-River Falls error pushed IWU ahead, 15-11, as the Falcons used their final timeout.

After UWRF fought back within two, a five-point Illinois Wesleyan run aided by a Palmer stuff and Bardouniotis kill jolted the Titans ahead, 22-14. The Falcons had one more push left in them, but back-to-back kills by French sealed a 25-20 set one victory.

Illinois Wesleyan trailed 2-1 in set two, but Feeney set Tellor for a point to even the score. The early advantage ended up being the only lead UW-River Falls held in the set as freshman Izzie Niepagen (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) sparked the Titans from the service line. A Niepagen ace gave IWU a 4-2 lead early, while a pair of Niepagen kills gave the Green and White a 23-18 advantage late. 

Three straight points by the Falcons saw Kim Nelson-Brown call a timeout with IWU's lead trimmed to two, 23-21. The reset gave the Green and White a chance to regroup as Feeney set Tellor for a kill. The Titans then took the set on a Falcons error, 25-21, to climb ahead 2-0 in the match.

In the third set, IWU scored the first seven points and never looked back. The run featured an ace from Niepagen and kills by Shannon and French.

With Illinois Wesleyan leading 16-12, the Green and White defense stepped up to force five straight UW-River Falls miscues. The run was capped by a solo stuff from Tellor before the junior teamed up with Shannon for a rejection to up the IWU lead, 23-12.

The Falcons scored five of six points in the set before Shannon put the match away with a kill to lift the Titans to a 25-17 win to complete the sweep.

Illinois Wesleyan now returns its focus to College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin competition as the Titans travel to Gregory Arena for a league match at North Central College Wednesday, Oct. 16. First serve is set for 7 p.m.