Lauren O'Brien and Carly Whitaker waiting to check in to a match Aug. 30, 2025 vs. Chicago

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Women’s Volleyball Prepares for Trip to Texas

Titans will play three matches at SU Invitational

9/4/2025 12:00:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - After opening the 2025 season inside the friendly confines of the Shirk Center, the 16th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan women's volleyball team will travel 960 miles to Georgetown, Texas, to participate in the Southwestern University Invitational Friday-Saturday, Sept. 5-6. The Titans will take on Texas Lutheran University to begin the trip Friday, Sept. 5, at 3:30 p.m., and will close the invitational with University of Puget Sound and Southwestern at 12 and 3:30 p.m., respectively, Saturday, Sept. 6.

Off to its best start since 2021, Illinois Wesleyan opened the season with a 3-0 showing at the IWU Tournament I Friday-Saturday, Aug. 29-30. The Green and White defeated Earlham College in five sets Friday night, before sweeping Greenville University and No. 20 University of Chicago Saturday to complete the weekend. The wins landed seniors Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) and Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East), as well as sophomore Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) on the all-tournament team. The season opener saw Boyd eclipse the 1000 career digs mark, as she entered the season needing six to achieve the feat.

Boyd also added American Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Week honors, becoming the first libero in program history to earn the award. The senior earned her third College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Defensive Player of the Week, as both organizations announced the weekly honorees Tuesday, Sept. 2.

Doing what she has done the last three seasons, French leads the IWU offense with 41 kills, averaging 3.73 per contest. Surpassing the 1500 career kills mark, French moved into fourth on the all-time career kills list, and sits 22 shy of third. Bardouniotis is second on the squad with 36 kills, averaging 3.27 per set. The sophomore registered 18 kills in the five-set win over Earlham Friday night, establishing a new career-high. Senior Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) rounds out the top-three hitters with 16 kills on the young season. The trio of attackers also lead the Green and White in aces. Bardouniotis sits atop the list with seven, followed by French with six. Tellor and Boyd are tied for third with five aces apiece.

A new face for the Titans, freshman Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) paces the Titans with 58 assists, an average of 5.27 per set. Splitting setting duties with O'Brien, junior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) closely trails with 54 assists, averaging 4.91 per set. Feeney heads to Texas needing just 24 assists to join the Green and White's 1000 career assists club.

Defensively, Boyd leads Illinois Wesleyan in digs after racking up 65 over the weekend, an impressive average of 5.91 per set. O'Brien and Bardouniotis are second and third with 32 and 31 digs, respectively. At the net, junior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) holds a team-high eight blocks. Tellor sits in second with seven rejections, including one solo stuff, and junior Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) is third with five.

IWU will meet Texas Lutheran (2-1) for just the second time, with the inaugural matchup occurring in 2018. The Titans swept the Bulldogs at home, as Rachel Burkman posted team-highs of 14 kills and 13 digs. TLU enters the weekend after most recently defeating Whitman College in straight sets at the Whitworth Classic Saturday, Aug. 30.

The Green and White will face Puget Sound (1-2) for the first time in program history. The Loggers dropped the first two games of their home tournament, but earned a win in their third game of the season with a sweep of Pacific Lutheran Saturday, Aug. 30.

Closing out the trip, Illinois Wesleyan looks for its first win over Southwestern (2-1), as the Titans have dropped the two previous matchups. The teams will meet for the first time since 2015, when IWU fell in three sets to the Pirates. Kyleigh Block totaled a team-high 12 kills for the Titans, while Mary Rankin notched a match-high 25 digs.

Southwestern will be live streaming all three matches. Links to the live stream for each specific match can be found here, while live stats can be followed along by clicking here.

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