Women's Volleyball during anthem Sept. 20, 2025

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Women’s Volleyball Readies for Trip to North Park

Titans move to No. 8 in AVCA Poll

9/30/2025 2:16:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The eighth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team makes the trip to North Park University for a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin clash Wednesday night, Oct. 1. The Titans (13-1, 2-0 CCIW) will take on the Vikings (15-2, 2-0 CCIW) at 6 p.m. inside Carlson Gymnasium.

The Green and White most recently fell in four sets to No. 18 Hope College Saturday afternoon, Sept. 27, ending the program's 13-match win streak to begin the season. It marks the second longest win streak in IWU's history, with the longest set by the 2018 team after winning 22 consecutive contests. Sophomore Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) led the offense with 14 kills, while also posting a team-high 17 digs to complete the double-double performance. Freshman Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) tallied a team-best 21 assists and three aces.

In the American Volleyball Coaches Association's most recent poll, IWU moved to No. 8. The top four teams saw no movement with La Verne checking in at the top spot, followed by East Texas Baptist, UW-Oshkosh, and UW-Whitewater. UW-Eau Claire vaulted into the top five, moving up 10 spots. The Titans are the lone CCIW team in the poll, with Carthage falling out of the top-25. The Firebirds and the Vikings remain in the receiving votes category.

The weekend saw senior Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) break the all-time record for career aces and points. With nine aces in the sweep of No. 14 Marietta College Saturday morning, French surpassed the program's career mark set by Tiffany Hamblin with 240 from 1999-2002. The senior then passed now-assistant coach Tyler White (nee Brown) for the points record, as she notched the 1956th point of her career with a kill in the second set.

French has paced the IWU offense so far this season, leading the squad with 182 kills, an average of 3.96 per set, on a .255 clip. Bardouniotis sits second with 135 kills, averaging 2.93 per set. The middle hitter duo of senior Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) and junior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) rank third and fourth with 89 and 77 kills, respectively, while both are hitting north of .300. French leads the team with 39 aces, followed by O'Brien's 28, and 20 from Bardouniotis.

Defensively, senior Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) leads the crew with 187 digs, an average of 4.45 per set. Bardouniotis followed with 146 digs, averaging 3.17 per set, and French ranks third with 123. The tandem of Tellor and Palmer lead the IWU net defense, with Tellor holding a team-high 30 blocks, while Palmer sits second with 28 rejections. Junior Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) rounds out the top three with 18 stuffs.

Illinois Wesleyan holds a commanding 37-4 advantage in the all-time series with North Park, and won the last meeting in three sets inside an electric Shirk Center Oct. 2, 2024. French was dominant with 14 kills on a .324 attack percentage, while Tellor led a net defense that held the Vikings to a .045 showing with five blocks. Boyd totaled a match-high 20 digs, and Bardouniotis aced NPU three times. Feeney, along with Abby Erdman, orchestrated an IWU offense that hit .288 as a team, as then-sophomore Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) finished with 17 assists and Erdman closely followed with 16. North Park enters Wednesday's match off a four-set win over Carroll University Friday, Sept. 26.

The Vikings will be providing a live stream, which can be accessed by clicking here, while live stats can be found here.

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