Alex Bardouniotis celebrates a point against Chicago Aug. 30, 2025

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Women’s Volleyball Sweeps Through Final Day of IWU Tournament I

Titans off to best start since 2021

8/30/2025 3:23:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The 19th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team completed an opening weekend sweep with three-set wins over Greenville University and 20th-ranked University of Chicago inside the Shirk Center Saturday, Aug. 30, . IWU downed GU (0-3) by set scores of 25-15, 25-21, and 25-13, before stifling UC (2-1) 28-26, 25-19, and 25-21 to move to 3-0 on the season for the first time since 2021.

Illinois Wesleyan had three named to the all-tournament team, as seniors Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) and Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East), and sophomore Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) earned the honor.

No. 19 Illinois Wesleyan 3, Greenville 0
Leading the Green and White's offense, Bardouniotis totaled nine kills on an efficient .316 attack percentage, while also tallying a team-high three aces. Senior Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) was second on the squad with seven kills, and French added five, both hitting north of .200.

Splitting setting duties, the local products of sophomore Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) and freshman Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) finished with 14 and 12 assists, respectively. Boyd notched 12 digs, a team-high, while Bardouniotis completed a double-double performance with 10 digs. Junior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) led the net defense with three blocks, followed by Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) with two.

Bardouniotis got the Titans on the board first with a kill to open the contest and put IWU in control early. O'Brien fed Palmer for a kill, before finding junior Mallory Monahan (Champaign, Ill.-Saint Thomas More) after an attack error, giving the Green and White an early 4-1 lead.

Illinois Wesleyan continued to pace the set, and a push near the halfway mark locked it in. Shannon buried a dish from O'Brien, beginning a 6-1 run. The two teams followed by trading attack errors, and Feeney found Tellor for back-to-back kills to run the lead to five. Two straight GU attack errors gave IWU a 19-12 advantage, calling for a Panthers timeout.

The Titans closed out the set with four straight points. Two Greenville miscues kept momentum in IWU's favor. Shannon and Palmer teamed up for a block to push set point, and Palmer and French closed the set with another block, securing the first set 25-15.

Trailing for the first portion of the second set, the Green and White found its groove, starting with Bardouniotis punching one through the block to tie it at nine points apiece. O'Brien gave IWU the lead with back-to-back aces, and an attack error put Illinois Wesleyan ahead, 12-9, forcing Greenville to call a timeout.

After the break, GU made a comeback, bringing it back within one, 16-15, before the Titans stole three straight points. Tellor laced one down off a set from O'Brien to get the sideout, and then notched another kill, this time coming off a pass from Feeney. Boyd found French on the next point, making it 19-15 in favor of the home team. IWU closed out the set with a Bardouniotis kill, locking it in at 25-21.

Illinois Wesleyan controlled the third set early, starting off with a Palmer and Shannon rejection. Bardouniotis followed with an ace, but Greenville got a sideout on the following serve. Shannon found French for a kill, beginning a streak of six straight IWU points that featured a Boyd ace and a Tellor kill mixed in with GU attack errors. After the Tellor kill, which put the Titans up 8-1, Greenville burned its first timeout of the set.

Keeping the momentum in its favor, Illinois Wesleyan went up double digits when Bardouniotis crushed one off a GU player, making it 17-7. O'Brien found French for a kill, ensuing another Bardouniotis ace, and a GU bad set made it 20-7 for the Green and White.

Checking in for the first time in her career, freshman Shelby Sennett (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) notched her first dig while saving a rally, leading to a kill from freshman Audrey Chizzo (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park and River Forest) off the back line to make it 23-12. Feeney found Chizzo for another kill, this time tooling the block, to cue match point. Entering the match for the serve, senior Raegan Watts (Maroa, Ill.-Maroa Forsyth) made the most of the opportunity, as she aced the Panthers for the win, 25-13.

Illinois Wesleyan finished the match hitting .224, while limiting the Panthers to an even zero attack. The Titans also held the upper hand in kills (26-19), assists (34-19), aces (11-3), digs (46-40), and blocks (5-3).

No. 19 Illinois Wesleyan 3, No. 20 Chicago 0
Down 21-19 in the opening set, head coach Kim Nelson-Brown called what would eventually become a crucial timeout to settle the Titans. Tellor and Shannon combined for a block to keep IWU's hopes alive. Facing a 23-20 deficit, Feeney found Shannon for a kill, followed by O'Brien feeding Bardouniotis, who tooled the block to make it a one-point difference, 23-22, causing UC to call a timeout.

Out of the break, IWU caught a break with an attack error to level the score at 23. Palmer seized an opportunity and shoved one down to make it 24-23, bringing up another Chicago timeout. Chicago responded, claiming the next two points, but once again the luck was on the Titans' side as a service error evened it at 25-25. After UC pushed set point again, IWU thwarted the Maroons, as French tooled the block to keep the set alive. A Chicago attack error gave the Green and White an opportunity to steal the set, which it did on the next point, as French left no doubt, burying a ball sent over prematurely, ending the opener 28-26.

The momentum stayed on the Titans' side, as they opened the second set on a 7-1 run. A CU attack error kicked off the set, followed by a Bardouniotis ace and a Palmer kill before Chicago could get on the board. IWU regained control with a freshmen connection, as O'Brien found fellow freshman Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton) for a kill. After a ball handling error, Whitaker and Tellor stuffed a UC attack, making the Maroons use a timeout down 7-1. Out of the timeout, IWU got another block, as French teamed up with Tellor this time to make it 8-1.

Chicago halted the Titans' towards the end of the set, as the Maroons tried to mount a comeback. Up by as many as 10 points, Illinois Wesleyan saw its lead trimmed to seven before an attack error set up set point, 24-16. UC continued to find its way back into the set, bringing it within five, but once again French ended the set with a kill, this time using an O'Brien dish to her advantage.

Down 12-10 in the third, Illinois Wesleyan used a run to get itself ahead, beginning with O'Brien finding Tellor, who tipped it over the UC block for a kill. French tied the set up at 12, tooling the block to do so. Tellor and French rejected an attack to give the Green and White the lead, and Bardouniotis hammered one down for a kill, making it 14-12 heading into a Chicago timeout.

IWU stayed hot out of the break, as Tellor smashed one into an opening. Following a sideout, Feeney found Shannon for two straight kills, making it 19-14, and forcing UC to use its final timeout.

Once again, Chicago found its way back into the set, bringing it within two, 23-21, making the Titans use one of their timeouts. The stoppage of play worked in favor of the home team, as a service error set up match point, and an attack error followed to complete the sweep for the Titans, 25-21.

Bardouniotis led the offense with nine kills, followed by eight from French, and Shannon with seven. At the service line, Bardouniotis once again finished with three, while French added two. O'Brien finished with a team-best 18 assists, while Feeney was close behind with 15.

Defensively, Boyd led the Titans with 22 digs, followed by 12 from O'Brien to complete a double-double. Tellor led the heavy net defense for the Titans with five blocks, followed by three from Whitaker. French, Palmer, and Shannon each finished with a pair of rejections.

In what statistically looked to be an even match, IWU closely finished with the lead in kills (39-35), aces (6-5), blocks (7-6), and assists (34-33), while UC registered the slim advantage in digs, 64-63.

The Titans will enjoy a few days off before flying to Texas to participate in the Southwestern University Tournament. Illinois Wesleyan will play three matches in Georgetown, Texas, Friday-Saturday, Sept. 5-6. The Titans will open with Texas Lutheran at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5, and will close the trip with University of Puget Sound and Southwestern at 12 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., respectively, Saturday, Sept. 6.

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