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French, Bardouniotis, and Erdman celebrate a point against Edgewood Sept. 13, 2024
Kodiak Creative
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 6-4,0-0 CCIW
2
Cornell College CC 4-6,0-0 Midwest
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
6-4,0-0 CCIW
3
Final
2
Cornell College CC
4-6,0-0 Midwest
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 21 25 25 23 15 (3)
Cornell College CC 25 18 16 25 7 (2)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Titans Upset No. 21 Cornell on the Road

Illinois Wesleyan attack too much to handle for Rams

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team spoiled Cornell College's home-opening weekend, as the Titans defeated the 21st-ranked Rams in five sets Saturday, Sept. 14, winning with set scores of 21-25, 25-18, 25-16, 23-25, 15-7. With the win, IWU ups its record to 6-4, while Cornell drops to 4-6.

Illinois Wesleyan was fueled by 56 kills on a .262 attack percentage, both of which were advantages to Cornell's 50 kills on a .161 clip. IWU also saw leads in assists (50-48), digs (67-56), aces (11-8), and blocks (11-6). 

The Green and White's offense was powered by a trio of Titans finishing with double-digit kills. Leading the way was junior Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) with 17 kills, earning her all-tournament team honors. Fellow junior Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) was the hot hitter for the Titans, as she finished with 14 kills to tie her career-high on a whopping .636 attack percentage, committing no attack errors in the contest. Senior Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) rounded out the three with 10 kills on a .400 clip. French and Tellor also led IWU in aces, with each recording three. Freshman Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) added two aces to go along with nine kills. 

Sophomore Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) and senior Abby Erdman (Aurora, Ill.-Metea Valley) shared the wealth on assists, recording 24 and 23, respectively. 

Illinois Wesleyan saw another valiant defensive effort from freshman Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep), who led the team with 21 digs. French finished with 15 digs to collect her sixth double-double performance in 10 matches. Bardouniotis added 12 for the Titans, setting a new career-high. Sophomore Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) led the Green and White's net presence, finishing with a career-best seven blocks. French and Tellor each added four rejections, while Harrington notched three. 

After dropping the opening set, 25-21, the Titans quickly responded. With the second set tied up at four apiece, Tellor kickstarted a Titan run with a kill, as the junior buried a set from Feeney. Tellor followed her kill up with an ace, and after a Rams miscue, Bardouniotis pushed one down to up the lead to four, 8-4, forcing CC to call an early timeout. 

The break in the action did little stopping the Green and White, as French registered a kill out of the timeout. Tellor followed with back-to-back aces to extend the lead to 11-4 before the Rams could stop the bleeding. A few points later, Harrington tipped one over Cornell's blockers, and the smart play put IWU up 13-6. The Rams chipped at the deficit, but an attack error followed by an ace from Lawton caused the home team to burn its final timeout as Illinois Wesleyan held a 16-10 advantage. 

Up 21-17, a French kill was followed by two straight Cornell errors, setting up set point for the Titans. Palmer slammed set two shut, as she put down a set from Erdman to five IWU the 25-18 set win.

The third set saw Illinois Wesleyan jump out to take the lead via a Palmer and French block, and the Titans never relinquished it. Erdman snuck a dump set in, and French punched back-to-back aces to give the Green and White a 5-1 start to the set. After a Cornell sideout, Harrington notched a kill, followed by another great dump set from Erdman, and Tellor and Bardouniotis teamed up for a block, ensuing some panic from the home team, as CC called a timeout with the score at 8-2 in favor of the visitors. 

French sent one down from the back row via a dish from Erdman, and a few points later a Bardouniotis kill extended the lead to nine, forcing Cornell to burn its final timeout, as the home team faced a 13-4 deficit. 

Out of the timeout, a Tellor kill was followed by her teaming up with fifth-year Jordan Pierce (Bonfield, Ill.-Herscher) for a stuff, extending the score to 15-4. Illinois Wesleyan rolled to the set win, as Tellor pushed it to set point with a kill, and Bardouniotis buried a set from Feeney to lock the score at 25-16.

After dropping the fourth set, 25-23, Palmer and French opened the fifth with a block, followed by an ace from Erdman, and French's kill saw the Green and White open the set up 3-0. After the Rams evened it a three, Harrington and Palmer teamed up to stuff Cornell's best hitter, and Harrington continued with a kill of her own, sneaking it over the Rams' blockers to give IWU a 5-3 lead. Erdman found Bardouniotis for a kill, forcing Cornell to call timeout. 

Illinois Wesleyan continued out of the break, as Harrington buried a pass from Erdman, giving the Titans a 7-3 lead. IWU was the first team to eight, as Palmer and Bardouniotis rejected a Rams attack to push the score to 8-4. 

Cornell clawed at the lead, bringing the set to within 9-7, but head coach Kim Nelson-Brown called what turned into a crucial timeout in the contest, as IWU came out of the break firing six straight points to close the match. French and Tellor put up back-to-back points out of the reset, forcing the Rams to call one of their own. 

The break in action did nothing to stop the Green and White. French registered her 17th kill of the contest, and Bardouniotis notched an ace, which was followed by a CC attack error to set up match point. The fifth set ended the same way it started, as IWU blocked another Cornell attack, this time by way of Tellor and French, ending the final set 15-7.

Illinois Wesleyan turns its attention to College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin action, as the Titans host Wheaton College Wednesday, Sept. 18, for a 7 p.m. contest inside Shirk Center. 
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