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Tellor celebrates a point against Loras Sept. 7, 2024
© AshtinElder
0
Loras LOR 5-2,0-0 American Rivers
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 3-2,0-0 CCIW
Loras LOR
5-2,0-0 American Rivers
0
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
3-2,0-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Loras LOR 14 19 14 (0)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 25 25 (3)
0
Webster WEBSTR 3-4,0-0 SLIAC
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 4-2,0-0 CCIW
Webster WEBSTR
3-4,0-0 SLIAC
0
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
4-2,0-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Webster WEBSTR 7 24 13 (0)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 26 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Women’s Volleyball Sweeps Loras & Webster to Close Out Crafted Classic

French, Tellor, and Boyd named to all-tournament team

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team completed its perfect weekend at the Crafted Classic Saturday, Sept. 7. IWU (4-2) opened the day with a sweep over Loras College, winning with set scores of 25-14, 25-19, 25-14, before downing Webster University in straight sets (25-7, 26-24, 25-13). The Titans saw juniors Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East), Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township), and Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) named to the Crafted Classic All-Tournament Team. 

Illinois Wesleyan 3, Loras 0
The Titans needed just 70 minutes to secure a win in their first contest of the day, as IWU defeated Loras (5-2) in straight sets. IWU was powered by a stellar .306 team attack percentage, while holding the Duhawks to a .126 clip. The Green and White also held advantages in kills (44-24), assists (39-23), digs (49-31), and recorded all 13 service aces of the contest. Each team finished the match with four total blocks. 

Senior Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) opened the match with a kill, burying a dish from sophomore Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community), sparking the Titans to open the set on a 5-1 run. 

Continuing to roll, Tellor slammed one down to push the score to 17-11, forcing Loras to call its first timeout of the contest. After the Duhawks got the sideout following the break in the action, IWU took six of the next seven points. Tellor and freshman Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) posted back-to-back kills, followed by Tellor and sophomore Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) teaming up for a block. After a service error for the Green and White, Shannon kept the Titans cruising with a kill, and senior Abby Erdman (Aurora, Ill.-Metea Valley) snuck a dump set in to catch the Duhawks off guard, pushing the score to 22-13, as Loras burned its final timeout of the set, but the damage was already done, as IWU took the opener 25-14.

Similar to the first set, Harrington cracked open the second with a kill. With the score even at five, French lined one to spark a six point run for the home team, sending Loras to call timeout as the Duhawks trailed 11-5. 

Up 16-9, Bardouniotis buried a ball, and Boyd recorded back-to-back aces to extend the lead to 10. Following the aces, Loras used its final timeout of the set, and took the first point out of the stoppage of play. Illinois Wesleyan quickly regrouped, as Bardouniotis notched two kills in four points, and an Erdman ace paired with a Duhawks miscue pushed the score to 23-10.

Loras chipped away at the lead, going on a run of its own, but Erdman caught the Duhawks off-guard as she dumped one in to set up set point, 24-18. French ended the set two points with a kill, 25-19.

The third set remained tight until a Duhawks service error gave IWU a 15-12 lead, opening an 8-1 run for the Green and White. Feeney followed the miscue with an ace before setting French for a kill. After a Loras sideout, Feeny found French again, and Bardouniotis roped one in for a kill, followed by one of French's four aces. The run helped the Titans roll to a 25-14 third set victory to complete the sweep.

French led the Green and White offense with 12 kills on a .379 attack percentage. Bardouniotis followed with nine kills, tying her career-high, on a whopping .583 clip. Tellor and Harrington each posted nine kills, both hitting well above .300 for the contest. Feeney and Erdman were the masterminds behind the majority of the offense, finishing with 19 and 16 assists, respectively, for the hot-hitting Titans. French recorded four aces, while Feeney and Boyd each added three. 

Defensively, Boyd's 16 digs were the most in the match. French finished with 12 digs to notch her third straight double-double performance. Erdman and Feeney added five digs apiece. Sophomore Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) led the net defense for Illinois Wesleyan, finishing with three blocks, two of which were solo stuffs. Shannon, Tellor, and Harrington each added a rejection at the net. 

Illinois Wesleyan 3, Webster 0
Continuing to roll, the Titans quickly took care of business, defeating Webster (3-3) in straight sets with scores of 25-7, 26-24, and 25-13. Illinois Wesleyan posted a .202 attack percentage behind 33 kills and 30 assists, while holding Webster to a sub-zero clip with 17 kills and 15 assists. IWU also held advantages with a 48-36 advantage in digs, and 8-5 and 8-3 leads in aces and blocks, respectively. 

Harrington led the Titans with 10 kills on a .333 hitting percentage. Bardouniotis followed with seven, and Shannon chipped in four. Feeney led the Green and White with 13 assists, while Erdman added eight and Boyd finished with four. Feeney and French each notched a pair of aces. 

On the defensive end, French recorded a team-high eight digs, followed by Feeney and Bardouniotis with six apiece. Palmer posted four blocks, one coming on a solo stuff, and Harrington and French each finished with three rejections. 

IWU opened the first set on a 6-1 run, with a Harrington kill followed by a French ace causing Webster to call an early timeout. Up 8-1, the Gorloks rattled off back-to-back points, but those would be the only string for the visitors, as Bardouniotis tooled a pair of blockers to get a Green and White sideout. 

Making her collegiate debut, freshman Vanessa Stasieluk (Northbrook, Ill.-Glenbrook North) teamed up with Harrington for a block to record her first collegiate stuff and point, then followed with her first career kill to bring up set point. IWU closed the set one point later, finishing the 7-0 run to take a 25-7 victory.

The second set proved to be the most challenging for the Titans, beginning with an incredible rally. After French kicked the ball up to save the opening point, Harrington hammered one down to take the early lead, kickstarting a 4-0 run. 

All tied up at 23, Shannon utilized a dish from Erdman to put the Titans at set point. Webster responded, but a Gorlock miscue was followed by a Bardouniotis ace to steal the set win, 26-24. 

Illinois Wesleyan held full control in the third, starting with an 8-0 run. The run saw two aces from Feeney, as well as a solo stuff from Palmer, and forced the Gorloks to take an early timeout. 

Out of the break in the action, French and Palmer teamed up for a block before WU could get a sideout. The Titans would continue to cruise through the set, powered by seven straight points to extend the lead to 16. Coming in to serve and making her collegiate debut, freshman Larisa Link (Chicago, Ill.-Marist) registered her first career ace, doing so in just her second serve. Link quickly followed the ace with her first collegiate assist, as she set sophomore Mallory Monahan (Champaign, Ill.-Saint Thomas More) for a kill to up the score to 21-5.

IWU would close the set on a kill from freshman Izzie Niepagen (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) to seal the win, as the Titans took the third set 25-13. 

Illinois Wesleyan returns to the court Wednesday night, Sept. 11, as the Green and White travel to Whitewater, Wis. for a battle against No. 7 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. 
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