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Eleanor Palmer celebrating a block against North Central Oct. 15, 2025
ASHTIN ELDER PHOTO
0
North Central (IL) NCC 14-5,3-1 CCIW
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 16-1,5-0 CCIW
North Central (IL) NCC
14-5,3-1 CCIW
0
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
16-1,5-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
North Central (IL) NCC 24 16 14 (0)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 26 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Women’s Volleyball Sweeps North Central to Take Full Control of CCIW Race

IWU prevails in defensive showing

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - In front of an ecstatic Shirk Center, the No. 6 Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team prevailed in a defensive showing, as the Titans swept North Central College Wednesday night, Oct. 15. The win gives the Green and White full control of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin title race, as it improves to 16-1 overall and 5-0 in conference play, while NCC dips to 14-5 and 3-1 in league action.

The Illinois Wesleyan defense was powered by 20 digs from senior Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant). Sophomore Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) chipped in 13, while senior Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) added in 11 digs. Senior Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) led a heavy net defense, as she finished tied for the match-high with four blocks. Freshman Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton) notched three rejections, followed by French and junior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) with a pair apiece. The Green and White defense limited the Cardinals to a .010 showing, including a negative hitting percentage in the second set, while holding edges in digs (54-42), and blocks (6-5).

French finished with 12 kills, the most in the match. Bardouniotis added nine and Palmer posted seven kills, as all three hit .200-or-better in the contest. The strong serving duo of French and Bardouniotis tallied three aces each, and Tellor and freshman Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) finished with two. The Titans dominated from the line with an 11-5 advantage overall. Continuing to split setting duties, O'Brien notched 16 assists, followed by 14 from junior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community). 

Illinois Wesleyan trailed in the early goings of the opening set before junior Cailin Shannon's (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) kill was followed by a Tellor-French stuff at the net to draw IWU within two, 9-7. The Titans continued to chip away at the deficit with back-to-back points from French trimming the deficit to one, 16-15. 

North Central ended the run with a spurt of its own to force a Titan timeout with the visitors leading, 19-16. Despite NCC winning the point out of the restart, French hammered down a kill and Tellor and Whitaker later combined for a dominant rejection to pull IWU back within one, 20-19. A Tellor kill and a North Central miscue gave IWU a slim one-point edge, but the Cardinals had one last push left in them as NCC soared ahead, 23-21, late. 

With a rowdy student section on hand, the Titans came back with a French kill out of a timeout to get back on track. Tellor downed an over-ball and Bardouniotis tooled a block to cue up set point, where senior Raegan Watts (Maroa, Ill.-Maroa-Forsyth) entered to serve. Watts delivered a floater that eventually set the table for another Bardouniotis kill, this one off a Feeney helper, to seal the 26-24 triumph. 

The thrilling opening-set win put momentum solely on the side of the Green and White as a relentless Titan crowd kept the home team in the driver's seat. 

With a two-point cushion, Illinois Wesleyan utilized an 8-2 run to cruise to the set win. Bardouniotis began the run with a kill before rattling off back-to-back aces. After a sideout, Palmer got the Green and White back on track with a kill, and Tellor and French teamed up for a block on the ensuing point. NCC committed an attack error before getting the ball back on its side, Tellor tipped one over for a kill, and a Cardinals miscue made it 23-15. French set up set point with a kill, and polished it off with an ace to put the Titans ahead two sets to none.

IWU held full control in the third set, beginning with a 6-1 run. Following NCC opening with an ace, French, Tellor, and Bardouniotis fired off three straight kills to regain momentum. North Central responded with a kill of its own, but Feeney fed Whitaker and Palmer on the next two plays before Tellor's ace made it 6-2 early.

The Titans rattled off four straight points to give them a double-digit lead, beginning with a backrow kill from Bardouniotis. Tellor and Whitaker sandwiched French aces with a block, making it 18-8. After a Palmer kill cued match point, French finished the contest with her 12th kill of the night, as the Green and White took set three, 25-14. 

The Titans return to road contests, as they head to No. 7 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire for the Blugold Alumni Weekend Invitational Friday-Saturday, Oct. 17-18. IWU will play the Blugolds Friday night at 7 p.m. before facing Cornell College and University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Saturday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
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