Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content
Taylor French hitting against Rose-Hulman Sept. 20, 2025
Kodiak Creative
0
Marietta MAR 9-4,0-0 OAC
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 13-0,2-0 CCIW
Marietta MAR
9-4,0-0 OAC
0
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
13-0,2-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Marietta MAR 20 15 16 (0)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 25 25 (3)
1
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 13-1,2-0 CCIW
3
Winner Hope Hope 11-4,0-0 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
13-1,2-0 CCIW
1
Final
3
Hope Hope
11-4,0-0 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 20 25 17 7 (1)
Hope Hope 25 21 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Women’s Volleyball Handed First Loss with Split at Hope

French breaks program’s career aces and points record

HOLLAND, Mich. - The seventh-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team was handed its first loss of the season after splitting two matches at Hope College Saturday, Sept. 27. The Titans (13-1) started off the day with a sweep of No. 14 Marietta College, winning with set scores of 25-20, 25-15, and 25-16, before falling in four sets to 18th-ranked Hope (11-4), 25-20, 21-25, 25-17, 25-7.

The day was highlighted by senior Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) breaking the program's career aces and points records. French established herself as the best server in program history during the first set against Marietta (9-4), as she surpassed Tiffany Hamblin with her 241st career ace. The record has stood since Hamblin donned the Green and White from 1999-2002. The standout senior followed by breaking the program's points record, which was held by now-assistant coach Tyler White (nee Brown), who accumulated 1955.5 over her decorated career from 2015-18.

No. 7 Illinois Wesleyan 3, No. 14 Marietta 0
Needing just 70 minutes to secure a sweep, and its 13th straight win of the season, Illinois Wesleyan's offense was dominant in the win over Marietta. The Green and White finished with 39 kills on an impressive .326 attack percentage, while limiting the Pioneers to 30 kills on a .129 clip. IWU also finished with the edge in assists (37-30), digs (49-41), aces (12-2), and recorded the only five blocks in the contest. 

Powering the offense was sophomore Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) with 11 kills on a whopping .500 attack percentage, as she committed just one attack error. French finished with seven kills, while junior Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) posted six. En route to her record-breaking performance, French tallied nine aces, a new career-high and tied for the second-most in a match in program history. Freshman Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) added a pair, and senior Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) notched one. Junior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) and O'Brien orchestrated the dominant offense, finishing with 20 and 13 assists, respectively. 

Defensively, Boyd totaled a team-best 15 digs, while O'Brien and Bardouniotis tallied nine apiece. The net presence was led by a pair of blocks from Bardouniotis, freshman Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton), and junior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep).

Opening the set dominantly, Illinois Wesleyan took the first three points via a kill from Tellor and two French aces. Feeney found Bardouniotis for two kills in three points to make it an early 5-2 advantage. Marietta stayed close in the set until the Titans rattled off five straight points. Starting with an opposing service error, French followed with an ace, and two MC miscues forced a timeout for the Pioneers. Out of the break, French made history with another ace, the 241st of her career, crowning her the program's all-time career ace record holder. The fourth ace of the match for the senior gave the Green and White a seven point cushion, 15-8.

A late push by the Pioneers saw the lead cut to down to five, but Feeney found the hot hand of Bardouniotis to set up set point, 24-18. Marietta strung together two points to stay alive, and Whitaker ended the first set with a kill in favor of the Titans 25-20. 

Trailing 2-1 to begin the second set, IWU took six of the next eight points, beginning with a kill from Tellor. French followed with a pair of aces, and Feeney found Bardouniotis and Palmer for back-to-back kills to make it 6-3. After a sideout, Palmer downed a set from Feeney to make it 7-4. O'Brien fed Palmer and Shannon for two straight kills, and a Boyd ace made it 12-6 in favor of the Green and White, forcing Marietta to call timeout. 

Cruising to a set win, Palmer buried a dish from O'Brien, and a French kill followed to bring up set point, 24-15. An attack error by the Pioneers gave the Green and White a two set lead, finalizing the score at 25-15. 

Whitaker got IWU going early in the third set, as her kill kickstarted a six point run for the Titans. O'Brien aced the Pioneers on the ensuing point, and Bardouniotis and Palmer teamed up for a block. O'Brien followed an attack error with another ace to make it 9-2, causing MC to call a timeout. 

Illinois Wesleyan commanded the set the rest of the way, stealing the last three points to close out the contest. O'Brien found Tellor for a kill, and two straight Marietta attack errors secured the sweep for the Titans with a third set score of 25-16. 

No. 7 Illinois Wesleyan 1, No. 18 Hope 3
Illinois Wesleyan's win streak came to an end at 13, as the Green and White was overpowered by the Flying Dutch to conclude the weekend trip. IWU won the kills battle, 46-43, but was limited to a .082 showing after committing 34 attack errors, while Hope was efficient with a .276 attack percentage and only nine hitting miscues. HC also finished with an edge in aces (9-7), blocks (12-2), while the Titans mustered advantages in assists (45-42) and digs (61-58).

Bardouniotis finished with a team-high 14 kills, closely followed by French's 13. O'Brien led the team with 21 assists and a trio of aces, while Feeney accrued 18 helpers. On the defensive end, Bardouniotis also tallied the team-lead in 17 digs to finish with a double-double performance. Boyd, playing in her home state, notched 14 digs, while French finished with eight. Tellor assisted on both blocks for the Green and White.

Ahead 6-5 to begin the opening set, Hope took the lead by scoring the next seven points. Feeney found French to get a sideout, followed by an ace from Tellor and a Bardouniotis kill to bring the deficit to three, 12-9. 

Illinois Wesleyan could never close the gap any further, ultimately dropping the opener 25-20.

The Green and White's first point of the second set came on a French kill, marking her seventh point of the match. The total pushed French ahead of her assistant coach to become the program's points leader, as she reached 1,956.5 points in her career.

Trailing 6-2, IWU caught a break with a service error to spark a run. O'Brien found French following a bad set, and then assisted on a Palmer kill to knot the score at six points apiece. The freshman aced the Flying Dutch to go ahead, 7-6.

Hope mounted a comeback to make it a one-point score late in the set, but Feeney found French for a kill to get the Titans going. French scored back-to-back aces to push set point, and then stayed hot with a kill to secure the second set, 25-21.

Illinois Wesleyan ran out of steam in the next two sets, falling 25-17 and 25-7. 

The Titans return to action against North Park University Wednesday night, Oct. 1. Action is set to begin at 6 p.m. at North Park Gymnasium.
Print Friendly Version