CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team split its day at the Coe Triangular, hosted by Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Friday, Sept. 13. The Titans (5-4) dropped their first match in straight sets, as the Kohawks won with scores of 26-24, 29-27, and 25-16. IWU responded by taking a five set battle against Edgewood College, winning with set scores of 24-26, 25-21, 28-26, 18-25, 15-12. 

Coe 3, Illinois Wesleyan 0
Illinois Wesleyan collected leads in kills (40-33) and assists (38-30), but Coe held the upperhand in aces (5-3) and blocks (9-7). Each team finished with 60 digs apiece, but the Titans trailed in attacking percentage .096 to .034 in a defensive battle.

Junior Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) tallied a match-best 12 kills, while junior Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) added seven and fifth-year Jordan Pierce (Bonfield, Ill.-Herscher) contributed six. Sophomore Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) orchestrated the attack with a team-high 18 assists. 

Freshman Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) notched a career-high 27 digs, while French recorded 10 to earn a double-double. Tellor led the net defense with five blocks.

The Kohawks upended the Titans in the opening set, as French's kill from junior Halle Smith (Farina, Ill.-South Central) pushed the Green and White ahead, 8-6. Coe followed with a timeout and a three-point run to climb ahead, 9-8, but a 6-1 spurt by IWU later gave the visitor's a 20-15 advantage. Coe battled back, tying the match at 24-all after holding off set point five times. Ultimately, the Kohawks closed the set with a six-point run to edge the Titans, 26-24.

Illinois Wesleyan bounced back with the first three points of the second set as Tellor's kills sandwiched a French point. Coe clawed back, tying the score at 10-10, but sophomore Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) and Tellor combined on a rejection to lift IWU to an 11-10 edge. The Green and White stretched its lead to four, 20-16, out of a Coe timeout, but the Kohawks rattled off three straight points to force an IWU timeout with the Titan lead trimmed to one, 20-19. 

Fueled by back-to-back kills by Tellor and French, Illinois Wesleyan took a 24-23 edge. The Titans and Kohawks needed extra points once again though, as Coe used a pair of IWU miscues to take the second set, 29-27.

The third set was all Coe, as the home team jolted out to an 8-1 lead. The Kohawks stretched their advantage to as many as nine, ultimately completing the sweep, 25-16.

Illinois Wesleyan 3, Edgewood 2
The Titans held statistical advantages in nearly every category, while the Eagles held a 14-5 lead in blocks and a .211 to .148 edge in hitting percentage. IWU led kills, 66-53, and assists, 62-52. The Titans notched 10 aces to eight by the Eagles, and also registered 88 digs to EC's 81.

French paced the attack as one of three Titans to finish with double-digit kills as she recorded a match-best 23. Bardouniotis was credited with a career-high 14 kills, while Tellor added 11 on a .345 clip. 

Feeney notched a 28-assist, 13-dig double-double while splitting setting time with Erdman, who added 14 assists. 

Defensively, a trio of Titans racked up double-digit digs, while five tallied seven-or-more. Lawton led the way with a match-best and career-high 31 digs. She also added eight assists. French completed her fifth double-double of the year with 13, while Bardouniotis and Erdman added eight and seven, respectively.

French and Tellor tied for team lead with three blocks apiece, while Tellor also added a match-high four aces.

After dropping the opening set in extra points, 26-24, Illinois Wesleyan got itself on track. An ace from Bardouniotis tied the set at 14 and was followed by a French kill as IWU reclaimed the lead, 15-14. The Eagles leveled the score twice, including at 16-16, but Feeney found Pierce for a kill to kick off a three-point run. On the heels of an ace by Erdman, Bardouniotis slammed down a kill to force an Edgewood timeout with the score standing at 19-16. EC won the point out of the reset, but kills by French, Bardouniotis, and sophomore Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) lifted IWU ahead, 23-19. Edgewood clawed back within two late, but a Shannon kill and EC error out of a Kim Nelson-Brown timeout gave IWU the 25-21 win.

The third set went into extra points, as a three-point run by the Eagles gave Edgewood a 25-24 lead. Coming out of a timeout, EC sent a serve into the net and Tellor followed with an ace to turn the tables as IWU held a 26-25 edge. A service error by the Titans evened the score once more, but an Eagle miscue was followed by junior Eleanor Palmer's (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) kill to propel the Green and White ahead, 2-1, with the  28-26 set victory.

Edgewood bounced back with a 25-18 set, leading nearly the set's entirety, to force a decisive fifth set.

The Eagles appeared to have all the momentum in the final set, as EC ran out to a 5-1 lead, but IWU responded out of a timeout. Kills by Tellor and French made it a one-point game, but Edgewood ran its lead back to three, 11-8.

An EC service error proved to be the catalyst for six straight points by the Green and White as French and Tellor each notched kills and joined forces for a block to lift IWU ahead, 14-11. A service error gave the Eagles late life, but Feeney set Tellor for the match-clinching kill.

Illinois Wesleyan wraps up its weekend with a 12 p.m. first serve as 21st-ranked Cornell College tomorrow, Sept. 14.