BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - For the first time in 30 years, the 19th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team will begin its season at home, as the Titans host the first of three tournaments to kick off the 2025 season Friday-Saturday, Aug. 29-30. The IWU Tournament I will feature Earlham College, Greenville University, and No. 20 University of Chicago alongside the Titans for a slew of matches inside Shirk Center. 

Illinois Wesleyan will kick its season off by taking on Earlham Friday night, Aug. 29, at 6 p.m. The Titans will play two contests on Saturday, Aug. 30, beginning with Greenville at 10 a.m., and finishing off the opening weekend by facing Chicago at 12:30 p.m.

Head Coach Kim Nelson-Brown, who enters her 30th season as the leader of the Titans, returns a solid core from the 2024 team that tied the program's best finish with an appearance in the NCAA Tournament Regional Championship. Each of IWU's four All-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin honorees from the 2024 CCIW Regular Season and Tournament Champion squad return, as first team honorees Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) and Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township), as well as second team selection Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) return for their senior season. Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community), who joined Boyd on the second team, enters her junior year. French, the two-time CCIW Offensive Player of the Year, was also an American Volleyball Coaches Association First Team All-Region pick, and earned her third All-American award as an honorable mention. Boyd was named a College Sports Communicators Third Team Academic All-America honoree, becoming the first women's volleyball player since 1998 to earn the accolade. IWU also returns the conference's newcomer of the year, as Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) returns for her sophomore campaign.

The Titans will see six new faces donning the Green and White on Friday. Freshmen Audrey Chizzo (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park and River Forest), Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton), Addi Hale (El Paso, Ill.-El Paso-Gridley), Shelby Sennett (Normal, Ill.-Normal West), Ashlyn Rager (Carmi, Ill.-Carmi-White County), and Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) will make their collegiate debuts inside the Shirk Center. 

IWU will begin the season by facing Earlham for the fourth time in program history, with the series dating back to 2019. The Titans look to even the series at two wins apiece, and swept the Quakers in the most recent matchup Sept. 3, 2022. French, in her first weekend representing Illinois Wesleyan, led the team with 10 kills, while adding four aces and two blocks. Then-freshman Raegan Watts (Forsyth, Ill.-Maroa Forsyth) tallied a team-high five aces in the win. 

The Green and White will square off with Greenville for just the third time, with the inaugural meeting occurring in 2014. The Titans have bested the Panthers in both previous bouts, taking each contest in four sets. In the most recent meeting, Sept. 10, 2022, French led the Titans to victory with a 15-kill, 14-dig double-double performance. Faith Washko rewrote the IWU record book, as her 40 digs are the most in a four-set match in program history, and rank tied for fourth in any match all-time. 

Illinois Wesleyan will conclude its opening weekend against a nationally-ranked Chicago squad. The series, which dates back to 1999, sits slightly tilted in favor of Chicago at 11-9. The Maroons took the last matchup in straight sets in their home gym Nov. 6, 2024. French finished with a team-best 14 kills, while Tellor tallied three blocks, and Boyd notched a team-high 11 digs. The two teams ended up in the same NCAA Tournament Regional, as both were sent to Marietta College. IWU went on to make the regional title match, defeating Franklin & Marshall and Marietta, while Chicago bested Centre before falling to eventual regional champion UW-Oshkosh in the second round. 

Information regarding the tournament, including links to the live stats and live stream, can be found by clicking here.