Women's Volleyball celebrating a point against Carroll Oct. 29, 2025

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Women’s Volleyball to Host Loaded IWU Tournament III

Field will feature three top-six teams

10/30/2025 12:00:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The sixth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team will host the third and final of its home tournaments, the IWU Tournament III, Friday-Saturday, Oct. 31-Nov. 1. The loaded field will feature the Titans alongside No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, No. 5 Juniata College, and Millikin University.

IWU (21-2) most recently downed Carroll University in four sets Wednesday night, Oct. 29, to claim its second straight College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Regular Season Championship outright. It marks the first time in program history that the Titans have defended their title and the first repeat league champion since Millikin in 2016 & 2017. In a historic night inside Shirk Center, the crowd also saw senior Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) become the program's all-time kills leader, as she surpassed now-assistant coach Tyler White (nee Brown) with her 1778th kill, with the mark ending the third set in favor of the Titans.

The Titans will begin the tournament facing UW-Oshkosh (24-2) Friday night, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m. The Halloween match will have a costume contest between the softball and women's basketball teams, which will take place between the first and second set. Illinois Wesleyan will then celebrate Senior Day against Juniata (23-2) Saturday, Nov. 1 at 1:30 p.m. Pregame festivities will honor the Green and White's four seniors, Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township), Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant), Raegan Watts (Forsyth, Ill.-Maroa Forsyth), and French. Together, the group led IWU to a NCAA Tournament Regional Championship a season ago, tying the best program finish in history, along with two CCIW Regular Season Championships, and a CCIW Tournament Championship title.

The IWU offense, which holds the seventh-best kills per set average in Division III (13.75), is led by French with 310 kills, an average of 3.92 per set. Sophomore Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) is second on the squad with 233 kills, followed by Tellor's 157. French also leads the team in aces with 60, while her average of 0.76 per set ranks 18th nationally. Bardouniotis follows with 41, while freshman Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) rounds out the top-three with 40.

Junior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) and O'Brien have orchestrated the offense for the majority of the season, leading the Green and White to an average of 12.49 assists per set, the ninth-best mark in the country. Feeney paces the team with 445 assists, an average of 5.63 per set, and O'Brien closely follows with 412, an average of 5.22 per set.

Defensively, Boyd leads the team in digs with 329, an average of 4.51 per set. Bardouniotis' 257 digs are good for second, followed by French with 240. Tellor leads the Titans at the net with 51 blocks, while junior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) 49 rejections. The pair is each averaging over 0.60 blocks per set in an effort to stifle opposing defenses. Freshman Carly Whitaker's (Morton, Ill.-Morton) 29 blocks is good for third on the team.

The Green and White will meet UW-Oshkosh on the court for the 24th time, with the series dating back to 1994. UWO holds a 19-4 advantage in the series, and IWU looks to avenge its regional championship loss from a year ago, as it fell in straight sets to end its season. French led the offense with eight kills, while Boyd tallied 20 digs in her defensive effort, helping land the duo NCAA Marietta Regional All-Tournament Team honors. UW-Oshkosh comes to town off a five-set win over No. 11 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Wednesday night, Oct. 29.

Illinois Wesleyan will matchup with Juniata for the third time, and the first since 2006. A perennial powerhouse, JC holds a 2-0 lead in the series, and is amid a run to defend its three straight national championships. The Eagles make the trip to the Shirk Center after sweeping Lebanon Valley College Saturday, Oct. 25. JC will play Millikin Friday night, Oct. 31, at 4:30 p.m. to begin the tournament.

All matches will be live streamed, and live stats will be available, with an entire tournament schedule accessible here.

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