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Taylor French and Kannyn Boyd celebrating a point against Wittenberg Sept. 19, 2025
Kodiak Creative
0
Wittenberg Witten 5-5,0-0 NCAC
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 9-0,1-0 CCIW
Wittenberg Witten
5-5,0-0 NCAC
0
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
9-0,1-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Wittenberg Witten 15 17 22 (0)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Women’s Volleyball Cages Tigers in Straight Sets

Titans score eighth straight sweep

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Seniors Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) and Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) powered the 10th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team to a sweep of Wittenberg University Friday evening, Sept. 19, inside the Shirk Center. IWU continued its record-setting start to the year with set scores of 25-15, 25-17, and 25-22 to roll to 9-0. Witt slid to 5-5 with the loss.

French was nearly unstoppable for the Green and White, racking up 19 kills on 33 swings for a .485 clip. She contributed six digs, a team-best four aces, and a block as well. Junior Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) tacked on five kills on an efficient .625 attacking percentage.

Boyd captained the defensive effort with a match-best 20 digs. Sophomore Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) collected eight digs with a pair of aces. 

Junior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) was credited with two blocks, while French, Bardouniotis, and senior Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) were good for one apiece.

As a team, IWU dominated the box score. The home team posted a 45-18 stronghold in kills while also hitting .248 to Witt's .043 clip. Illinois Wesleyan finished with advantages in digs (53-42), assists (39-15), and aces (8-5). The Tigers secured a lead in blocks, 7-3. 

Illinois Wesleyan raced out to a 3-0 lead behind kills by Tellor, French, and freshman Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton), but the Tigers clawed back to level the set, 3-3. French followed up a kill with an ace to reclaim a two-point cushion, 5-3, but IWU's lead hovered around two until Bardouniotis aced Wittenberg for a 10-7 lead.

French kills forced two Tiger timeouts, but the resets did little to slow an Illinois Wesleyan attack that hit .364 in the set. With the Titan defense digging seemingly everything, an ace by French upped the IWU edge to 19-10. Wittenberg's miscue gave the Green and White set point and Bardouniotis polished off the set, 25-15, with a sinking serve that dropped for an ace. 

The Titans struck first in the second set with a Tellor kill, but Wittenberg clawed out to a 9-7 lead. A trio of French kills, including an absolute hammer of freshman Lauren O'Brien's (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) helper, pulled IWU within one, 11-10. 

Wittenberg returned the lead to the Titans with back-to-back errors and Tellor tacked on a kill for a 13-11 edge.

The run continued with a sneaky ace by French before Bardouniotis tooled the block as Illinois Wesleyan claimed control, 20-14.

Shannon unleashed a kill and French added another as the set moved to 24-16, in favor of the Green and White. The home team finished off the 25-17 triumph as French notched her 13th kill of the evening.

The third set proved to be the closest of the match, as Palmer bounced one off the Tigers for a 17-16 edge. O'Brien registered an ace to cap a three-point run, jolting IWU in front, 19-16, into a Witt timeout.

Unlike the previous ones, this pause refocused the Tigers. Wittenberg scored three of the next four points to cut Illinois Wesleyan's lead to one, 20-19. A service error by the Tigers stalled the run, but only temporarily as the set was knotted up at 22.

In need of an answer, the Green and White went to the hot-handed French for a kill and the senior came up with her 19th of the match. Leading 24-22 after a Wittenberg error, Feeney dialed up an ace for a 25-22 win.

The tournament continues inside the Shirk Center tomorrow, Sept. 20, as the Titans tangle with Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Coe College at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., respectively.
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