BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - After opening the 2024 season on the road, the Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team will play its home opener amid one of three home tournaments. The Titans (1-2) will host the Crafted Classic, sponsored by Crafted Commons, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 6-7. DePauw University, Loras College, and Webster University will make the trip to the Shirk Center for the weekend. 

Illinois Wesleyan opens the tournament against DePauw (2-1) Friday night, Sept. 6, for a 6 p.m. start. The following day, Saturday, Sept. 7, the Green and White will match up against Loras (2-1) and Webster (2-1) at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. 

The Titans opened the 2024 campaign in Springfield, Ohio, at the Wittenberg Fall Classic. IWU began the season with a sweep over No. 24 Mount St. Joseph University, before falling to Otterbein University in three sets and Baldwin-Wallace University in five. The weekend saw junior Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) surpass the 1000 career kills mark, becoming the 17th Titan in program history to eclipse the milestone. French needed just 61 matches to hit the mark. 

Through three matches, French leads the Green and White offense with 44 kills, averaging four kills per set. Freshman Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) sits second on the squad with 19 kills, and junior Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) closely follows with 18. Fifth-year Jordan Pierce (Bonfield, Ill.-Herscher) has orchestrated the majority of the offense, totaling 79 kills for an average of 7.18 per set. Senior Abby Erdman's (Aurora, Ill.-Metea Valley) 15 sets are second, while junior Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) rounds out the top three helpers with eight. French and Pierce put on a show at the service line during the opening weekend, recording nine and five aces, respectively. Boyd and Bardouniotis follow with four apiece. 

On the defensive end, Boyd racked up a team-high 51 digs in 11 sets of action at libero, averaging 4.64 per set. Second on the team in digs is French with 33, followed by Pierce's 28. Leading the net protection, Tellor totaled five blocks throughout the weekend, two solo and three assisted. Pierce notched four rejections, while senior Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) and freshman Hailey Rak (Lockport, Ill.-Lockport Township) each recorded three stuffs. 

The Green and White will face DePauw for the 10th time in program history, with the series dating back to 1995. IWU holds a 7-2, but dropped the most recent contest in five sets on the road Sept. 14, 2018. Now-assistant coach Tyler Brown led the Titan offense with 22 kills to go along with 21 digs, two blocks, and an ace in the match her senior season. 

Saturday will see Illinois Wesleyan take on Loras for the fifth time. The Titans are the winners of the last three, and have only faltered to the Duhawks in the inaugural meeting Sept. 29, 2001. The two squads have not faced each other on the court since Sept. 27, 2008, with the Titans claiming a five-set victory. The match will see Kim Nelson-Brown go toe-to-toe with former assistant coach Kristy Duncan, who is now at the helm of the Duhawks.

Meeting on the court for the ninth time, Illinois Wesleyan looks to improve its 5-3 record against Webster to close out the tournament. The winner of the last two meetings, IWU won the most recent matchup in straight sets inside the Shirk Center Nov. 1, 2023. French led the sizzling Titan offense that hit a combined .313 for the contest, with 16 kills on a monstrous .406 attack percentage, and paired it with 11 digs to complete the double-double performance. Pierce totaled 20 assists to lead the Green and White. 

All six matches for the tournament will be live streamed, with links to find the streams here. Court One, the court in which IWU will play all three of its matches on, will have men's volleyball players Vince DiCosola and Hayden Warfiend calling the contests. A link to the tournament central page, which includes information regarding matchups, time, links to streams, and links to live stats, can be accessed by clicking here.