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Eleanor Palmer and Cailin Shannon celebrating a point against Rose-Hulman Sept. 20, 2025
Kodiak Creative
0
Rose-Hulman RHIT 9-3,0-0 HCAC
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 10-0,1-0 CCIW
Rose-Hulman RHIT
9-3,0-0 HCAC
0
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
10-0,1-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Rose-Hulman RHIT 21 13 16 (0)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 25 25 (3)
1
Coe Coe 9-3,0-0 American Rivers
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 11-0,1-0 CCIW
Coe Coe
9-3,0-0 American Rivers
1
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
11-0,1-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Coe Coe 20 25 14 15 (1)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 21 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Women’s Volleyball Collects Two Wins to Remain Unbeaten

Titans sweep Rose-Hulman, down Coe in four

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The 10th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team remained perfect on the season behind wins over Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Coe College Saturday, Sept. 20. The wins conclude the Titans' second of three home tournaments, and up IWU's record to 11-0. Illinois Wesleyan swept RHIT (9-3) behind set scores of 25-21, 25-13, and 25-16, and concluded the weekend with a four set win over Coe (9-3), winning 25-20, 21-25, 25-14, 25-15. 

The 3-0 weekend landed four Titans on the IWU Tournament II all-tournament team. Juniors Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park), Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep), and senior Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) all earned a spot on the list, while senior Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) was named the tournament MVP.

No. 10 Illinois Wesleyan 3, Rose-Hulman 0
Illinois Wesleyan's offense stayed hot, as the Titans cruised to their ninth straight sweep after taming the Fightin' Engineers. IWU hit a whopping .324 behind 46 kills, while limiting RHIT to 29 kills on a .156 clip. The Green and White also finished with advantages in digs (47-42), assists (40-27), aces (8-2), and blocks (4-3).

Continuing a stellar start to her senior year, French led the offense with 15 kills on a monstrous .467 attack percentage. Palmer was second with nine kills, also hitting north of .400. Sophomore Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) notched seven kills, while a total of nine Titans recorded at least one kill in the victory. 

The masterminds behind the dominant IWU offense, freshman Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) and junior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) finished with 18 and 15 assists, respectively. Bardouniotis tallied half of the team's aces, as she finished with four, and Feeney added a pair to her stat line.

Defensively, French and senior Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) led the team with nine digs apiece. Bardouniotis added eight digs to round out the top three. Leading the net defense, Tellor totaled three blocks in the match, followed by two from Shannon. 

Coming out of the gates swinging, Feeney fed Tellor and Palmer for two straight kills to spark an early run. Following an attack error, Tellor kept an out of system ball alive, as she found Bardouniotis for a kill, and Palmer downed a ball sent over prematurely to make it 6-2. After the two teams traded attack errors, O'Brien aced the Fightin' Engineers then found Bardouniotis and Palmer for two straight kills to make it 10-3 in favor of the home team, forcing an RHIT timeout.

After a late 5-1 run by RHIT cut IWU's comfortable lead to three, 22-19, O'Brien found French for a kill, getting the Titans a much-needed sideout. French pushed set point, and stayed hot as she ended the set with another kill, 25-21. 

In a set that saw the Titans hit .500 after committing just one attack error, Illinois Wesleyan went up two sets to none after winning nine of the last 11 points. O'Brien found Shannon, who tipped it over and in for a kill to begin the run. Tellor and freshman Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton) teamed up for a block, and then Whitaker downed one on the next rally for a kill to make it 20-11. Feeney found Tellor for a kill, perfectly executing the slide, and Bardouniotis brought set point closer with a kill to make it 23-12. After an RHIT sideout, Feeney found Bardouniotis for another kill to bring up set point, and Tellor aced the Fightin' Engineers to lock in the second set, 25-13.

With the third set at 12-7, IWU rattled off nine straight points, beginning with a Shannon kill utilizing the tape to her advantage. Bardouniotis followed with an ace, and French posted three straight kills. Bardouniotis fired off back-to-back aces, causing Rose-Hulman to call timeout. The break did little to stop the Titans, as O'Brien found fellow freshman Audrey Chizzo (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park and River Forest) for a kill. A kill by junior Mallory Monahan (Champaign, Ill.-Saint Thomas More) made it 21-7 to end the streak of points for the home team. 

Sophomore Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) found Monahan for another kill to queue match point, 24-12. The Fightin' Engineers fought off match point with three straight kills and an ace, but Monahan ended the contest with a kill, using a set from Feeney to her advantage, as the Titans claimed the third and final set, 25-16.

No. 10 Illinois Wesleyan 3, Coe 1
The IWU offense saw three players finish with double-digit kills in the victory over the Kohawks. Leading the way, French accrued 16 kills on a .308 attack percentage, while Tellor tallied 12 kills on an efficient .458 clip. Bardouniotis added 11 kills to round out the impressive Green and White offense. Feeney orchestrated the attack with 25 assists, while O'Brien added 18. 

Providing key serves from the line, senior Raegan Watts (Maroa, Ill.-Maroa Forsyth) and French tied for the lead in aces, each posting a pair. Boyd came up big on defense for the Green and White, finishing with a match-high 24 digs. French, Bardouniotis, and O'Brien racked up 10+ digs apiece, garnering double-double performances for the trio. Palmer finished with four blocks in a heavy net defense for the Titans. Shannon added three, while Tellor rejected a pair of Kohawk attacks. 

Illinois Wesleyan finished with statistical advantages in all categories, as the Titans recorded 59 kills on a .263 showing while limiting Coe to 48 kills on a .166 clip. IWU also tallied the edge in digs (78-76), assists (53-42), aces (7-2), and blocks (7-2).

Looking in control early, the Titans pursuit of a quick set stalled, as Coe pulled within two, 18-16, but O'Brien found Palmer for a timely kill. Shannon and Palmer teamed up on the next attack, sending it back for a block, and a Shannon kill made it 21-16, forcing Coe to call timeout. The Kohawks put up a fight at the end of the set, but French lined one off a player to snag the opening set, 25-20.

After dropping the second set, 25-21, which snapped 29 consecutive set wins for the Titans, IWU quickly regrouped in the third. After giving up the first point of the set, the Green and White took the next six, coming on four kills from Tellor, a Bardouniotis kill, and an opposing attack error, putting the home team ahead, 6-1. 

In full control, Feeney caught the Kohawks sleeping, as she dumped one into the middle of the court to make it 21-13. O'Brien followed a Coe miscue with an ace to up the cushion to 10 points, and the Titans would close the set with a score of 25-14. 

Illinois Wesleyan kept the momentum on its side in the fourth set. Feeney found Palmer for a kill, igniting a small but mighty run for the Titans. On the ensuing point, Bardouniotis downed a ball sent over early, and followed with another kill to make it 18-12. The Green and White never let go of its lead, ultimately taking the fourth and final set, 25-15. 

The Titans return to College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play, as they host Elmhurst University Wednesday night, Sept. 24. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Shirk Center.
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