Kannyn Boyd, Jessie Sariev, and Hailey Rak celebrating the win against North Central Nov. 14, 2024

Women’s Volleyball Hosts Millikin for CCIW Championship

Top two seeds face off for tournament crown

11/15/2024 12:19:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - After sweeping fourth-seeded North Central College Thursday night, Nov. 14, the top-seed Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team will face second-seeded Millikin University Saturday night, Nov. 16. Action is set to begin at 4 p.m. inside Shirk Center, following the conclusion of the Titan football season finale.

Illinois Wesleyan (21-9) used a powerfully balanced attack to defeat the Cardinals in straight sets Thursday night. Five Titans posted seven-or-more kills, led by the outside hitter duo of junior Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) and freshman Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North). French posted 13 kills, while Bardouniotis finished with 11. Junior Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) had nine, while sophomores Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) and Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) finished with eight and seven kills, respectively. Fellow sophomore Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) led the team with 31 assists, two shy of her career-high.

French ranks top-10 nationally in points (543, fifth), aces (77, sixth), and kills (450, 10th), while her 4.89 points per set sits 16th, and her average of 4.05 kills per set is 24th in Division III. Tellor is second on the team in kills with 230, while Bardouniotis closely follows with 222. Bardouniotis ranks second on the squad with 47, followed by Feeney's 31.

Feeney leads the team in assists, having recorded 503 assists on the season, an average of 5.24 per set. Senior Abby Erdman (Aurora, Ill.-Metea Valley) is second with 354, followed by fifth-year Jordan Pierce (Bonfield, Ill.-Herscher) with 267 assists.

Junior Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) has led the Green and White defense, having accumulated 472 digs this season, averaging 4.92 per set. French sits second with 348, followed by Bardouniotis' 231. Tellor's net presence has resulted in a team-leading 80 blocks, 16 coming on solo stuffs. Palmer closely follows with 79 blocks, made up of 15 solo and 64 assisted blocks. Senior Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) rounds out the top-three blockers with 41.

IWU and Millikin (29-4) will meet for the 59th time, as the series dates back to 1994. The Big Blue hold a slim, 30-28, advantage in the series, but the Titans were victorious in the regular season meeting, winning in four sets to kick off homecoming weekend Friday night, Oct. 4. French led the attack with 19 kills, and Bardouniotis posted eight kills along with six aces. Boyd led the defense with 29 digs, while Palmer notched seven blocks. MU escaped the CCIW Semifinal with a five-set victory over third-seed Carthage College Thursday night.

A link to the live stream and live stats can be found on the women's volleyball schedule page on iwusports.com, or by clicking here.

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