BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team heads to Marietta, Ohio, for the NCAA Tournament Regional, hosted by Marietta College this Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 21-23. The Titans (22-9) will face Franklin & Marshall College in the opening round of the tournament Thursday afternoon, Nov. 21.
Illinois Wesleyan earned the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin's automatic bid after defeating 10th-ranked Millikin University in the CCIW Tournament Championship Saturday, Nov. 16, winning a lengthy five-set battle. Franklin & Marshall defeated Ursinus in the Centennial Conference Tournament Semifinal, winning in three sets, before falling to Swarthmore in five sets in the CC Tournament Championship. The Diplomats were awarded an at-large bid after posting an overall record of 23-6.
NEW FOE WHO DIS?: Illinois Wesleyan will meet Franklin & Marshall on the court for the first time in program history. The Diplomats enter the contest with an overall record of 23-6, and earned an at-large bid after falling in the Centennial Conference Tournament to Swarthmore, 3-2. The two teams will face off at 4:30 p.m. ET, and will be the third of four matches inside Ban Johnson Arena. Illinois Wesleyan has only faced one Centennial Conference school in the past, as the Titans fell to Johns Hopkins in four sets in 2017. Now-assistant coach Tyler Brown posted 11 kills and 21 digs in the match.
A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN: The Titans ran the table in CCIW play, going 8-0 during the regular season, and 2-0 in the conference tournament. The perfect slate resulted in IWU's sixth CCIW Regular Season Championship, and it's fifth conference tournament crown. The only other Illinois Wesleyan team to go undefeated in regular season and tournament play was the 2018 team, headlined by now-assistant coach Tyler Brown, who was a senior on the squad. The 2018 squad was the first team to advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament, becoming one of the final 16 teams standing. The Titans defeated California Lutheran in three sets to open the tournament, then took down WashU in four sets. Illinois Wesleyan fell in four sets to Aurora to end the historic season with an overall record of 27-6.
DOWN GOES NO. 10: Illinois Wesleyan defeated 10th-ranked Millikin University for the second time this season to clinch the tournament championship. Junior Hannah Tellor led the Titan offense with a career-high 17 kills on an impressive .382 attack percentage. Fellow junior Taylor French added 15 kills, and freshman Alex Bardouniotis finished with 12 kills to round out the double-digit hitters. Senior Abby Erdman and sophomore Sophia Feeney orchestrated the offense with 25 and 23 assists, respectively. Junior Kannyn Boyd led the defense with 23 digs, and sophomore Eleanor Palmer matched her career-best seven blocks.
29 YEARS of KNB: Head Coach Kim Nelson-Brown is in her 29th season leading the Green and White, and has accumulated an overall record of 563-397. Nelson-Brown has led the Titans to six CCIW Regular Season Championships (1997 outright, 2003 outright, 2015 shared, 2018 outright, 2021 outright, 2024 outright), four CCIW Tournament Championships (1997, 2018, 2021, 2024), and seven NCAA Tournament Appearances (1997, 1998, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2024). She has coached 16 All-American selections, 23 All-Region honorees, 90 All-CCIW selections, and eight CCIW "Players of the Year."
RANG IN ALL-CCIW HONORS: The Titans saw four players earn All-CCIW honors this season. Taylor French and Hannah Tellor earned First Team All-CCIW Honors, while Kannyn Boyd and Sophia Feeney were featured on the second team. French was named the CCIW Hitter of the Year for the second straight season, and Bardouniotis earned the league's First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year award. Also reeling in conference accolades, Kim Nelson-Brown was named the CCIW Coach of the Year for the fourth time in her career, as she previously earned the honor in 2003, 2018, and 2021.
PARDON OUR FRENCH: Illinois Wesleyan's offense has been led by junior Taylor French for the past three seasons. A two-time AVCA All-American, French leads the team with 465 kills, the 11th-most nationally, while her 4.01 kills per set average ranks 30th. The Romeoville, Ill. native also ranks nationally in points (563.0, fifth), aces (81, sixth), points per set (4.85, 17th), and aces per set (0.70, 26th). The junior has recorded 21 double-doubles in 31 matches this season.
1000x4: The Titans have celebrated three players reaching 1000 in a statistical category this season on four separate occasions. Fifth-year Jordan Pierce reached 1000 career assists at Chicago Nov. 6, and Abby Erdman hit the assists mark against Wheaton Sept. 18. Taylor French achieved 1000 career kills against Baldwin-Walalce Aug. 31, and eclipsed 1000 digs Oct. 11 against Wartburg. French became the eighth player in program history to record 1000 kills and 1000 digs in a career.
TRIO OF SETTERS: Illinois Wesleyan has featured a trio of setters that have been the masterminds behind the offense this season. Sophia Feeney leads the team with 526 assists, averaging 5.21 per set, followed by Abby Erdman with 379, and Jordan Pierce with 269. The trio have been behind 85.9 percent of the team's total assists this season.
BLOCK PARTY: The Titans have seen a significant net presence this season, led by Eleanor Palmer with 86 blocks this season. The sophomore is averaging 0.78 rejections per set, and has totaled 15 solo stuffs. Hannah Tellor closely follows with 83 blocks, an average of 0.72 per set, and leads the team with 16 solo rejections. Senior Morgan Harrington is third on the team with 41 blocks.
POSTSEASON HISTORY: Illinois Wesleyan enters its eighth NCAA Tournament looking for its first trip to the NCAA Final Eight. The Titans own a 4-7 record in the tournament, and are 4-6 under the direction of Kim Nelson-Brown. IWU has made it as far as the third round, as the 2018 squad defeated California Lutheran and WashU to be one of 16 teams left standing, but fell to Aurora to end its run. Making its first appearance in 1991, the Green and White fell to Benedictine. The Titans won their first NCAA Tournament match in 2015, defeating Dominican in straight sets.
GET YOUR TICKETS: Marietta College is selling tickets for the NCAA Regional online, which can be found on the women's volleyball schedule page on iwusports.com. All-Session pass prices are $20 for adults, $12 for senior citizens, $12 for students, $8 for children between the ages of 3-12, and free for any child age two or under.
A FAMILY AFFAIR: After becoming one of the most decorated players in program history while playing for her mom, Tyler Brown joined the IWU staff prior to the 2020 season. A part of the 2015-18 teams, Brown holds the program record for career kills (1777), digs (1987), and points (1955.5), along with many season and match records. Brown was a three-time AVCA First Team All-American (2016-18), was an All-America Honorable mention in 2015, and was tabbed as the AVCA Freshman of the Year in 2015.
NEW FACES, NEW PLACES: Head Coach Kim Nelson-Brown boosted her roster after the 2023 season with the help of the transfer portal. Kannyn Boyd transferred in from Division II Newberry College, while Hannah Tellor came to IWU by way of Illinois Central College, a junior college in Peoria, Ill. The two have made immediate impacts for the Titans, as Tellor has started all 31 matches for the Green and White, and Boyd has been the libero in 28 contests. Tellor ranks second on the team in kills with 247 on a team-best .322 clip, and has added 83 blocks, 21 aces, 20 digs, and 20 assists. Boyd leads the defense with 493 digs, averaging 4.88 per set, along with 113 assists and 19 aces.
Also making an immediate impact for IWU, Alex Bardouniotis has posted 234 kills, third-most for the Titans, and sits second on the squad with 48 aces. The freshman is also third on the team in digs with 246, and has totaled 29 blocks.
ON THE HORIZON: With a win, Illinois Wesleyan would face the winner of Marietta College and St. John Fisher University, who will play the 7 p.m. ET match Thursday night. The winners of the two matches would play the second round contest at 7 p.m. ET Friday, Nov. 22.
The other side of the regional bracket features University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Marymount University, University of Chicago, and Centre College. UW-Oshkosh and Marymount open Thursday's action with an 11:30 a.m. ET contest, and Chicago and Centre will follow with a 2 p.m. start time.
The last two teams standing will play in the Regional Championship with a ticket to the NCAA Final Eight in Salem, Va., on the line, at 7 p.m. ET Saturday night, Nov. 23.
