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Women's Volleyball Celebrates Downing No. 8 Millikin
Kodiak Creative
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Millikin MIL-U 18-3,3-1 CCIW
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 11-5,4-0 CCIW
Millikin MIL-U
18-3,3-1 CCIW
1
Final
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Ill. Wesleyan IWU
11-5,4-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Millikin MIL-U 23 20 25 23 (1)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 25 22 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Titans Upset No. 8 Millikin for Second Straight Top-15 Win

Titans stay a perfect 4-0 in CCIW play

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Just two days removed from sweeping No. 15 North Park University, the Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team downed eighth-ranked Millikin University to secure a crucial College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin win in front of an electric Shirk Center crowd Friday night, Oct. 4, taking the sets 25-23, 25-19, 19-25, 25-23. The win, which kicks off Illinois Wesleyan's homecoming weekend, boosted the Titans to 11-5 overall, 4-0 in CCIW action, while MU drops to 18-3 overall, and 3-1 in league play. 

Junior Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) got the Titans their first lead of the opening set, as an ace made the score 3-2. Two aces from freshman Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) in three points saw the Green and White jump out in front, and sophomore Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) found junior Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) for a kill to make it 9-7. Sophomore Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) buried a dish from Feeney to up three, 11-8. 

After a Millikin run saw the home team down 15-11, senior Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) registered a much needed sideout with a kill, followed by an ace from French to bring the deficit to within two. Later in the set, junior Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) buried a ball to even the score at 21 apiece, and Bardouniotis sent one off of Millikin into the crowd for a kill to take a late lead, 22-21, forcing MU to call timeout. 

French and sophomore Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) teamed up for a block to push set point, and a service error for the Big Blue secured the set one win for the Titans, 25-23. 

Similar to the end of the first set, French and Palmer stuffed a Big Blue attack to open the second set in favor of the home team. Following an MU attack error, Palmer and Bardouniotis rejected an attack, and a few points later the Titans blocked another attack, this time from the trio of Harrington, Bardouniotis, and Tellor to make it 5-1. A few points later, Tellor downed a dish from senior Abby Erdman (Aurora, Ill.-Metea Valley) to up the score to 6-2. 

Up 7-4, the sophomore connection of Feeney to Shannon resulted in the Titans upping their lead to four early in the set, followed by another Shannon kill, this time coming on an assist from Boyd. Tellor smoked the next point down to extend the lead to six, causing the Big Blue to call timeout. 

Millikin went on a run to tie the set at 16 all, but the Green and White found its groove, going on a 6-1 run which saw kills from Shannon and French among MU miscues, pushing the score to 22-17. French rang in back-to-back kills to set up set point, and Harrington finished the set by burying a set from Erdman, as the Titans took set two 25-19. 

After dropping set three, 25-19, Illinois Wesleyan responded by opening the fourth set on a 5-1 run. French cracked the scoreboard by tooling a block, and Harrington and Palmer followed with a block from Harrington and Palmer. Tellor and Bardouniotis posted two straight kills to end the run, but Millikin clawed its way back into the set, tying it at six. 

With the lead standing at one, Bardouniotis hammered one down and followed with her sixth ace of the night to push the score to 16-13. French slammed one down the line, followed by a slam from Shannon, and Palmer tipped one over a block to make it 19-15, ensuing a Millikin timeout. 

After Millikin found its way back into the set, Tellor buried a ball from Feeney, and French finalized the upset with a kill, as the Titans took the fourth and final set, 25-23. 

As a team, IWU edged out Millikin in kills (52-49), blocks (9-7), digs (88-70), assists (49-41), and held an 8-4 advantage in aces. In what proved to be a defensive battle, the Titans hit .166, while Millikin hit .168. 

The Green and White saw French lead the offense with a match-high 19 kills, along with 21.5 points for the night. Bardouniotis and Harrington tied for second on the team with eight kills, while Tellor and Shannon each added seven with hitting percentages over .300. Bardouniotis bested her career-high with six of the Titans' eight aces. Erdman and Feeney evenly distributed to the Illinois Wesleyan attack, each finishing with 21 assists. 

Boyd led the defense, finishing with 29 digs. Feeney and French each added 13, both finishing with double-double performances. Bardouniotis posted 12, while Erdman collected 11 to also notch a double-double. The IWU block was led by Palmer, who tied her career-best with seven rejections. A trio of Titans notched three blocks, coming from French, Bardouniotis, and Harrington. 

The Titans will enjoy the rest of homecoming weekend off, and will remain home for another key CCIW contest Wednesday night, Oct. 9. Illinois Wesleyan welcomes Carthage College to the Shirk Center for a 7 p.m. match.
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