WAUKESHA, Wis. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team completed a perfect College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin slate Tuesday, Oct. 29, with a four-set victory at Carroll University. With the win, IWU finished the conference season 8-0 to claim the CCIW Regular Season Championship outright while boosting its overall record to 19-6.

Illinois Wesleyan has now reached its highest win total since the 2021 season, while the Green and White are one win shy of the 23rd 20-win season in program history. Additionally, it marked the fourth outright conference title in Illinois Wesleyan history and just the second undefeated CCIW record in program laurels. The 2018 squad posted an 8-0 record, the only other unblemished league record in Titan volleyball history.

The Titans used a balanced attack to knock off the Pioneers, as five players finished with six-or-more kills. Juniors Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) and Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) powered the Green and White with 14 and nine kills, respectively. French hit .204 on the night and completed a double-double with 21 digs. She added a team-high five aces with three blocks. Tellor's nine kills came on a team-leading .313 clip, while she added three rejections. 

Freshman Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) added eight kills, with senior Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) and sophomore Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) contributing six apiece.

Sophomore Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) dished out 20 assists, while fifth-year Jordan Pierce (Bonfield, Ill.-Herscher) finished with 18 assists. Each setter was credited with five digs.

Junior Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) racked up 25 digs to pace the Titans, while sophomore Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) tacked on a team-high four blocks as the defensive leaders. Shannon registered three stuffs alongside Tellor, while Bardouniotis notched 10 digs.

Both IWU and CU finished with 47 kills in the match, while Illinois Wesleyan's came with a .157 to .130 attacking percentage advantage. The Titans doubled up the Pioneers in aces, 10-5, and also notched leads in assists (42-41) and digs (77-71). Carroll held a slim advantage in blocks, 10-8.

Feeney fed Palmer and French for back-to-back kills to give the Green and White an 8-6 lead early into the set. Three straight Pioneer errors followed by a Pierce ace put IWU ahead 14-9, forcing Carroll to call timeout.

Illinois Wesleyan kept it rolling out of the break, as Pierce found Harrington for a kill. Following a CU sideout, Tellor buried a dish from Pierce, and Bardouniotis kept the Titans going with an ace to extend the lead to seven, 17-10. French followed a Carroll service error by downing a set from Feeney to cause Carroll to utilize its second timeout, as the home team trailed 20-13. 

The stoppage of play did little to disrupt the Titans, as they took the next three points. Palmer and French teamed up for a block, before Palmer posted a kill, and Feeney followed with an ace to up the score to 23-13. A CU serving miscue set up set point, and French aced the Pios to give the Green and White the set one win, 25-14.

The second set saw Palmer punch one through for a kill to give Illinois Wesleyan an early, 6-5, lead. A Carroll run saw the Pios regain control, but the Titans rattled off four straight points via kills from Bardouniotis and Tellor that sandwiched solo blocks from the duo to push the score to 11-9. Carroll used its own run to take a slim 15-14 lead, propelled by four straight points, causing head coach Kim Nelson-Brown to call timeout.

The timeout proved to work in favor of the visitors, as the break in action sparked the Titans, who notched four of the next five points. Carroll had an attack error out of the timeout before registering the sideout, but two straight kills from French and a bad set CU capped off the run, putting the Green and White back out in front, 18-16.

All tied up at 20, Feeney found Shannon, who unleashed a cannon to give the Titans the lead with a kill. An attack error from the Pios caused them to call their last timeout, but IWU took the final two points of the set to secure the 25-22 win, as Harrington sealed the set with a kill. 

After falling short of a sweep and dropping the third set 25-23, the Titans responded in the fourth. A four-point run aided an 11-8 advantage early via kills by French and Harrington and two CU attack errors. Two straight Pioneer miscues forced Carroll to call a timeout trailing 16-12, but the break did little to stop the Green and White. Tellor found Shannon for a kill, and Feeney assisted on a Bardouniotis kill to follow, extending the lead to five, 17-12.

Following a Carroll comeback to trim the lead, Pierce assisted on two straight kills, as the Bonfield, Ill., native found Bardouniotis and senior Carly Kuehl (St. Louis, Mo.-Parkway West) for back-to-back IWU points, forcing CU to burn a timeout down 22-18. After the break, French and Palmer blocked a Pioneer attack, and Bardouniotis followed with an ace to cue match point. The Titans sealed the win, and an undefeated run in CCIW action, on an attack error, taking the fourth and final set, 25-19.

Illinois Wesleyan turns its attention back to non-conference action, as the Titans host eighth-ranked Washington University in St. Louis Thursday night, Oct. 31. The Halloween contest will begin at 7 p.m. inside Shirk Center, and will feature a costume contest, as well as a canned goods drive.