Women’s Volleyball Heads North to No. 4 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Titans take on Warhawks at 7 p.m. for midweek match

9/10/2024 2:00:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Eyeing a top-10 opponent, the Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team will travel north to Whitewater, Wis., to face fourth-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for a midweek match Wednesday, Sept. 11. The Titans (4-2) look to hand the Warhawks (7-0) their first loss of the 2024 season. Action is set to begin at 7 p.m. inside the Kris Russell Volleyball Arena.

Illinois Wesleyan enters off a 3-0 weekend at home, picking up wins over DePauw University, Loras College, and Webster University Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 6-7. The Green and White saw the junior trio of Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East), Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant), and Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) earn Crafted Classic All-Tournament Team honors. Boyd was also the recipient of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Defensive Player of the Week Monday, Sept. 9, after racking up 50 digs, 13 assists, and five aces in 10 sets of action over the weekend.

Leading the offense, French has recorded 82 kills, averaging 3.90 per set. Her 4.83 points per set average currently ranks 22nd across the country. Freshman Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) is second with 43, while senior Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) closely trails with 40. IWU has seen three setters orchestrate the majority of the offense so far this season. Fifth-year Jordan Pierce (Bonfield, Ill.-Herscher) leads the trio with 99 assists, an average of 7.07 per set. Senior Abby Erdman (Aurora, Ill.-Metea Valley) and sophomore Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) are second and third with 53 and 51 assists, respectively. French leads IWU in service aces with 17 on the season, while Feeney and Boyd follow with nine apiece.

On the defensive end, Boyd's 101 digs are a team-high, as the junior is averaging 4.81 per set. French sits second with 65, and Pierce's 40 are third-most for the Titans. Sophomore Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) has recorded a team-best 12 total blocks, five coming on solo stuffs. Tellor's eight blocks are good for second, followed by Harrington with seven to round out the top three blockers.

IWU and UW-Whitewater have a lengthy history, dating back to 1995. The two squads have met on the court a total of 23 times, with the Warhawks claiming a victory in 21 of those contests. The two teams most recently met Sept. 24, 2022, with UWW taking the win in four sets. French led the Green and White with 16 kills to go along with six digs. Erdman posted a team-best 14 assists and notched a double-double performance with 12 digs. Pierce added 11 assists and three aces in the contest. UWW enters Wednesday's match off a sweep of University of Northwestern (Minn.) Saturday, Sept. 7.

The Warhawks will be providing a live stream of the match, which can be found here, while live stats can be accessed by clicking here.

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