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Women's Volleyball Celebrates Match Point Against DePauw Sept. 6, 2024
© AshtinElder
1
DePauw DPU 2-2,0-0 NCAC
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 2-2,0-0 CCIW
DePauw DPU
2-2,0-0 NCAC
1
Final
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Ill. Wesleyan IWU
2-2,0-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
DePauw DPU 15 25 20 21 (1)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 21 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Women’s Volleyball Downs DePauw in Home Opener

Titans open Crafted Classic with four set victory

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Playing its first match inside the Shirk Center of the 2024 season, the Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team downed DePauw University in four sets (25-15, 21-25, 25-20, 25-21) behind stellar defense for the Green and White to open the Crafted Classic. With the win, IWU evens its record at 2-2, while DePauw dips to 2-2. 

Three Titans finished with double-digit kills. Junior Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) led the pack with 22 kills, while fellow junior Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) put on a show, totaling 11 kills on a .526 attack percentage. Senior Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) finished with 10 kills to round out the double-digit hitters. The trio of fifth-year Jordan Pierce (Bonfield, Ill.-Herscher), senior Abby Erdman (Aurora, Ill.-Metea Valley), and sophomore Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) orchestrated the Titan offense that combined for a .247 hitting percentage. Pierce totaled 20 assists, while Erdman and Feeney finished with 14 and 12, respectively. 

The defensive end saw junior Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) lead the Green and White with 29 digs, tying her career-high. French and Pierce each posted 12 digs to notch a double-double performance. Sophomore Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) led Illinois Wesleyan's net presence with three blocks, while French recorded two rejections. As a team, IWU's defense kept the Tigers to a .199 attack percentage, which included a .059 clip in the first set. 

As a team, Illinois Wesleyan saw a 62-42 advantage in kills, as well as having the upper hand in assists (57-40), service aces (8-6), and digs (86-63), while DePauw held a 10-4 advantage in total blocks.

Trailing 8-3 to open the first set, Tellor ended the Tigers run with a kill to record what would be a crucial sideout for the Green and White. French registered four straight kills to level the score at eight apiece, and Tellor found open land to give IWU a 9-8 advantage, forcing DePauw to call a timeout. 

The Tigers utilized the break to record a quick sideout, but Illinois Wesleyan quickly found its groove, as Palmer followed a Tigers service error with back-to-back kills, helping spark a 7-2 run. French and Palmer teamed up for a block to push the score to 16-11, sending DePauw to burn its last timeout. 

Illinois Wesleyan would roll to a first set victory, 25-15, as the Titans closed the set on a 22-7 run after facing an 8-3 deficit. 

After dropping the second set, 25-21, the Green and White quickly got back on track in the third. French opened the third set with a kill, and a trade of service errors was followed by a Harrington kill to give IWU a 2-1 lead. French posted back-to-back aces to push the score to 4-1 and force DePauw to call an early timeout. 

With the score 8-3 in favor of the home team, Boyd notched back-to-back aces, with the first finding the back line before lacing another one in, as the Tigers burned their second and final timeout of the set early as they faced a 10-3 deficit. 

Freshman Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) and French teamed up for back-to-back kills to extend the Illinois Wesleyan lead to six, ultimately putting the set out of reach. Palmer pushed one between two blockers to finalize the third set, 25-20. 

Bardouniotis slammed a free ball to put the Titans up 3-0 to start what would ultimately be the final set. The fourth remained close until French, Erdman, and Tellor strung together kills to give IWU a late 21-19 lead, causing the Tigers to want to talk things over. 

Out of the timeout, Tellor laced an ace in, but two straight DePauw points saw head coach Kim Nelson-Brown call a timeout to settle her team. Out of the break, sophomore Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) notched a kill, and Feeney registered an ace to set up match point for the Green and White, 24-21, as the Titans fed off the electric crowd inside the Shirk Center. Facing match point, Boyd found French with the hot hand for a kill to seal the win for IWU, with a final set score of 25-21.

Illinois Wesleyan faces a quick turnaround, as day two of the Crafted Classic begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 7. The Titans will face Loras College before taking on Webster University at 1 p.m. to conclude the weekend homestand.
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