Carly Whitaker hitting against Elmhurst Sept. 24, 2025

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Women’s Volleyball Heads to Hope for Two Top-25 Contests

Titans to take on No. 14 Marietta and No. 18 Hope

9/26/2025 10:00:00 AM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The seventh-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball travels to Hope College for two top-25 contests Saturday, Sept. 27. The Titans (12-0) will open the day with a 10:30 a.m. ET match against No. 14 Marietta College before facing the 18th-ranked Flying Dutch (9-4) at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Illinois Wesleyan enters the weekend coming off of a sweep of Elmhurst University Wednesday night, Sept. 24. The Green and White were guided by a hefty service line presence, led by six aces from senior Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) and five from freshman Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic). French also led the team in kills with 13 on the night, while O'Brien tallied a team-best 13 assists. Senior Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) led the Titans with nine digs, and junior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) notched a team-high three blocks.

Displaying a balanced offense, IWU ranks fourth in the nation, and first in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, with an average of 13.79 kills per set. Leading the way is French with 162 kills this season, averaging 4.15 kills per set on a .295 attack percentage. She ranks second all-time in career kills with 1,632 to her name, and is nearing the program record of 1,777, held by now-assistant coach Tyler White (nee Brown). Sophomore Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) ranks second with 110 kills, an average of 2.82 per set. Senior Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) rounds out the top three with 78 kills, averaging two kills per set on an efficient .316 clip.

Junior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) and O'Brien have been the masterminds behind the Illinois Wesleyan offense all season. The two have helped lead the Titans to the 15th-most assists per set in Division III, and a CCIW-best, with an average of 12.26 per set. Feeney sits at the top with 214 assists, averaging 5.49 per set, while O'Brien closely follows with 196 helpers, an average of 5.03 per set. French leads the aggressive serving presence with 28 aces through the first 12 contests, and looks to set a new program record this weekend. The standout senior needs four aces to break the career aces record, set by Tiffany Hamblin with 240 from 1999-2002. O'Brien is second on the squad with 23 aces, followed by 20 from Bardouniotis. French also looks to reset the program's career points record in Holland, Mich., as she is 23 points away from Tyler Brown's record of 1,955.5.

On the defensive side, Boyd leads the Titans with 158 digs, an average of 4.51 per set, the best in the conference. Bardouniotis is second with 120, averaging 3.08 per set, while French is third with 110. Helping hold opponents to a hitting percentage of .120, Illinois Wesleyan's net defense has been led by Tellor and Palmer. Tellor leads the way with 27 blocks, closely followed by 26 rejections from Palmer. Junior Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) sits third with 17 stuffs.

The Green and White will face Marietta (9-2) for just the second time in program history. The two met a season ago in the NCAA Tournament Second Round, where IWU upset the Pioneers with a sweep to knock out the home team and advance to the NCAA Regional Championship. Five Titans posted seven-or-more kills in the win, led by 17 kills from French. Boyd tallied a team-high 19 digs, while Tellor and Palmer each finished with three blocks. MC most recently fell in straight sets to Transylvania University Friday, Sept. 19.

Illinois Wesleyan will meet Hope on the court for the 10th time with the series dating back to 1994. The Flying Dutch hold a 7-2 advantage in the series, and took the last meeting in three sets Sept. 23, 2023. Feeney notched a team-best 15 assists, while Shannon tied for the team-lead in blocks with two. IWU will see a familiar face on Hope's bench, as former Titan Taylor Babec is an assistant coach. Babec was a four-year letterwinner for the Green and White, and finished her career ranked 14th in program history in career blocks per set with an average of 0.70. HC most recently swept Whittier College Saturday, Sept. 20.

Hope will be providing live streams of each match, which can be found here, while live stats can be followed along by clicking here.

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