Women's Volleyball pregame huddle against Chicago Sept. 18, 2025

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Women’s Volleyball Returns to Shirk Center for IWU Tournament II

Titans to play three matches in the second of three home tournaments

9/18/2025 12:00:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - After two weeks on the road, the No. 10 Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team returns to the Shirk Center to host the IWU Tournament II Friday-Saturday, Sept. 19-20. The second of three home tournaments welcomes Coe College, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and Wittenberg University to town.

Illinois Wesleyan (8-0) will kick off the tournament by facing Wittenberg (5-4) Friday night, Sept. 19, at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20 will feature the Titans taking on Rose-Hulman (9-1) at 10 a.m. to begin the second day of action, and will conclude with IWU taking on Coe (7-2) at 4 p.m.

Looking to continue its program-best start, IWU improved to 8-0 on the season with a sweep of Wheaton College to begin College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play Wednesday night, Sept. 17. It marked the seventh straight sweep for the Green and White. Sophomore Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) led the team with 12 kills on a .304 attack percentage. Junior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) tallied a team-high 17 assists, while senior Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) posted team-highs of three aces and a trio of blocks. Seniors Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) and Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) each finished with nine digs, tying for the team lead.

Leading an offense that ranks 11th nationally in kills per set with an average of 13.54, French has accrued 98 kills on the young season. The senior is averaging 3.77 kills per set on a .245 attack percentage. Bardouniotis follows with 80 kills, an average of 3.08, while Tellor rounds out the top three hitters with 51 kills, doing so on an efficient .308 attack percentage. French also leads the team in aces with 16, and is just 15 away from the program's career aces record. The mark of 240 was set by Tiffany Hamblin during her career as a Titan between 1999-2002. Freshman Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) closely follows with 15 aces on the season, and Bardouniotis sits in third with 12.

Continuing to split setting duties, Feeney leads the team with 140 assists, an average of 5.38 per set, followed by O'Brien with 135, averaging 5.19 per set. Nearing other records, French sits just 100 points outside of the program's career points record, as she has totaled 1,855.5 points in her illustrious career. The record of 1,955.5 points in a Green and White jersey is held by now-assistant coach Tyler White (nee Brown), whose playing days between the years of 2015-18 produced multiple program records for the Titans.

Defensively, Boyd leads the way with 96 digs, an average of 4.36 per set. Bardouniotis' 86 digs is good for second, while French is third with 76. Leading the Titan net defense that is limiting opponents to a .120 attack percentage, Tellor has totaled 21 blocks, including three solo stuffs. Junior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) follows with 16, and freshman Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton) has made an immediate impact for the Titans with 11 rejections to her name.

Illinois Wesleyan will begin the second of its three home tournaments by facing Wittenberg for the 10th time in program history. The series dates back to 1997, and the Tigers hold a 7-2 edge all-time. Most recently, IWU fell in four sets Oct. 29, 2022. French totaled 23 kills, along with 18 digs in the contest. WU enters the tournament off a historic win over then-No. 1 Juniata College Saturday, Sept. 13, as the Tigers snapped the three-time defending national champions' 103-match win streak.

The Titans will meet RHIT on the court for the 12th time, with the first matchup coming back in 1999. Holding a 7-4 advantage in the series, IWU took a four-set win over the Fightin' Engineers Sept. 10, 2022. French posted a double-double in the contest with 14 kills and 22 digs. Rose-Hulman most recently sustained its first loss of the season, falling to DePauw University Wednesday night, Sept. 17.

With an inaugural meeting in 2002, Illinois Wesleyan brings its 9-3 advantage against Coe to the table Saturday night. Coe is the winner of the last two meetings, including the most recent coming in three sets a season ago, Sept. 13, 2024.French led the offense with 12 kills and two aces, while Feeney posted a team-high 18 assists. Then-freshman Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) notched a team-best 27 digs, while Tellor finished with five blocks. Coe enters the weekend after falling in four sets to Gustavus Adolphus College Saturday, Sept. 13.

For all information regarding the tournament, including links to live stats and the live stream, click here.

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