BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The top-seeded Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team swept fourth-seed North Central College in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament Semifinal Thursday night, Nov. 14, winning with set scores of 25-16, 25-18, and 25-21. With the win, the Titans (21-9) advance to the CCIW Championship, where they second-seed Millikin University.

Illinois Wesleyan outperformed the Cardinals (21-9) in all statistical categories, powered by 55 kills on a .312 attack percentage, while limiting NCC to 35 kills on a .220 clip. IWU also held advantages in digs (56-45), assists (54-34), blocks (6-5), and aces (4-1).

The Green and White's duo of outside hitters, junior Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) and freshman Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) powered the Titan offense. French posted a team-high 13 kills on a .257 attack percentage, while Bardouniotis notched 11 kills on a .240 clip. Junior Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) added nine kills, followed by sophomore Cailin Shannon's (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) posted eight. 

Sophomore Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) led the team with 31 assists, two shy of her career-high. Senior Abby Erdman (Aurora, Ill.-Metea Valley) added 15, and junior Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) finished with seven. French notched a pair of aces, while Feeney and Boyd each added one. 

Leading the defense, French accrued 16 digs, recording her 20th double-double performance of the season. Boyd followed with 16, and Feeney had 11 to complete her double-double. Tellor led the net defense with three blocks, followed by a pair of rejections from sophomore Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep), Pierce, and Shannon. 

Illinois Wesleyan was dominant in the opening set as the Titans hit .382 as a team. A cross-court kill by French got IWU off to a 2-0 start before Palmer painted the back line on a set by Erdman. 

A monster swing from Bardouniotis upped the Green and White lead to five, 9-4, into a North Central timeout. The pause did little to slow the Titans though, as Palmer hammered a kill for a 16-10 advantage. A brick-wall rejection by Shannon and Tellor forced NCC to burn its second timeout, but Shannon notched a kill out of the reset to drive IWU ahead, 20-13. A Bardouniotis kill kept the Titans rolling as a NCC miscue sealed a, 25-13, set one victory.

Tellor slammed a kill down to lift IWU to an early, 2-0, lead in the second set. A kill from French off a Feeney set upped the lead to four, 6-2, before fifth-year Jordan Pierce (Bonfield, Ill.-Herscher) hammered down a kill to push Illinois Wesleyan ahead, 10-4. 

North Central battled back, pulling within two, 18-16, on an IWU error, but a kill by Tellor and an ace from Feeney extended the cushion to four. With the home team on top, 20-16, NCC looked to a timeout to shift momentum. The Cardinals won the point of the reset, but Shannon and French alternated kills to give the Titans set point, 24-17. Feeney ultimately dished an assist to French for the set-clinching kill as IWU grabbed a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set was far closer as the two teams played to a 17-17 score on a block by Pierce and Palmer. Moments later, Palmer teamed up with French for a rejection as IWU reclaimed the lead, 18-17. 

Erdman caught the Cardinals on their heels, sneaking a dump-set over the net before French's ace inched the Green and White ahead, 20-18. Shannon's kill down the line extended the lead to three, 23-20, and a back row kill by French moved things to match point where Bardouniotis finished off the sweep, 25-21.

Illinois Wesleyan will host the CCIW Tournament Championship game this Saturday, Nov. 16. First serve is set for 4 p.m. inside the Shirk Center and will see the top-seeded Titans take on No. 2 seed Millikin.