French Named AVCA First Team All-Region

Third time the junior has earned the award

11/20/2024 2:52:00 PM

AVCA Release

LEXINGTON, Ky. - For the third straight season, junior Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) of the Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association First Team All-Region 8. It marks the fourth straight season IWU has had a player earn the honor, as Courtney McAuliffe represented the Green and White in 2021.

French becomes the third player to earn at least three All-Region accolades in program history, joining Amy Rajala (1989-91) and Tyler Brown (2015-18). It is the 24th time head coach Kim Nelson-Brown has had a player receive All-Region honors. French is one of four players representing the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin on the list, joined by Kailee Itzenhuiser from Millikin and North Central's Bailey Houlihan on the first team, while Jenna Damon from Carthage was an honorable mention.

Leading the Titan offense to a CCIW Regular Season and Tournament Championship title sweep, along with earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021, French has posted 465 kills, the 11th-most in Division III. The CCIW Offensive Player of the Year sits fifth nationally in points with 563, sixth in aces (81), 17th in points per set (4.85), 26th in aces per set (0.70), and 30th in kills per set (4.01). French has also accumulated 358 digs and 33 blocks this season.

The junior achieved 1000 career kills and 1000 career digs this season, becoming just the eighth player in IWU history to achieve the milestone in both categories, notching the kills mark against Baldwin-Wallace Aug. 31, and the digs mark against Wartburg Oct. 11. French holds season-highs of 23 kills (Sept. 13 vs. Edgewood), 29 points (Oct. 16 at North Central), seven aces (twice), 21 digs (Oct. 29 at Carroll), and four blocks (Sept. 14 at Cornell).

French and the Titans open the NCAA Tournament against Franklin & Marshall College Thursday, Nov. 21. Game time is set for 4:30 p.m. ET in Marietta, Ohio, on the campus of Marietta College.

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