Skip To Main Content
Palmer and Obrien Celebrate
Audrey Peterson
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 18-1,6-0 CCIW
0
Wis.-Stevens Point UWSP 12-10,2-2 WIAC
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
18-1,6-0 CCIW
3
Final
0
Wis.-Stevens Point UWSP
12-10,2-2 WIAC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 25 25 (3)
Wis.-Stevens Point UWSP 12 16 19 (0)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Top-Ranked Women’s Volleyball Races Past Pointers

Titans run win streak to 11

STEVENS POINT, Wis. - Needing just 70 minutes for its fifth straight sweep, the top-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team bested tournament host University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 25-12, 25-16, and 25-19 at the Polito's Invite Friday evening, Oct. 16. The Green and White improves its record to 17-1 while the Pointers see their win streak snapped at five and fall to 12-10. 

Sophomore Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton) led a strong IWU attack with 12 kills. Whitaker posted a .545 attacking percentage, finishing the match without an error on 22 swings. She added four digs and one block. Senior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) also added an error-free showing, putting down nine kills on 20 swings for a .450 clip. Junior Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) tacked on eight kills. 

Sophomore Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) and senior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) directed the Titan attack with 17 and 16 assists, respectively. O'Brien notched four digs and a kill, while Feeney contributed an ace.

Junior Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) was a stalwart in the backrow, churning out 17 digs with four assists and an ace. Junior Graci Junis (Morton, Ill.-Morton) and Bardouniotis tacked on a dozen digs apiece. Junior Juliana Valdez (Palos Heights, Ill.-Marist) registered three blocks, one solo and two assisted, to tie Bardouniotis and Palmer of the team-lead. 

As a team, Illinois Wesleyan dominated the stat sheet. The Titans scored leads a 39-26 lead in kills alongside advantages in aces (8-3), assists (38-24), and digs (52-40). IWU's dominant night was powered by the defense as IWU turned in a .257 attacking percentage while holding the Pointers to .055 hitting. The Titans tallied a total of seven rejections to four blocks by the Pointers.

The Green and White wasted no time after its four and a half hour bus ride, as Valdez's court awareness opened the scoring and her solo block made it 2-0. Bardouniotis connected on three swings to run the score to 8-1. Whitaker and Palmer continued their strong weeks to boost the lead to 14-6. Momentum never left the Titans, as a Junis ace made it 17-7 and Bardouniotis' swing made it 19-8 into the UWSP timeout. Whitaker went on a mini run with three kills in a four point stretch and Junis fired off set point on an assist from O'Brien. The impressive set ended with IWU hitting .560 with 15 kills. The defense, highlighted by Lawton's six digs, held the Pointers to a .107 attack percentage. 

The attack stayed successful in set two with senior Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) tying the score at one. Bardouniotis connected on straight swings and Whittaker's left arm made it 6-3. A discombobulated Pioneer defense allowed a Bardouniotis ace causing a timeout but the break did not help as the junior fired a fastball off the back row for a 9-4 advantage. Palmer and O'Brien went back at it for two more points as the Titans grew the lead to 13-5 into another UWSP timeout. IWU pushed its lead to 17-10 on a Bardouniotis-Valdez rejection and Whitaker took advantage of two Feeney sets to climb the lead to 21-14. UW-Stevens Point's struggles continued as three consecutive attack errors lifted the Titans to a 25-16 triumph.  

Going for their first non-conference sweep since early September, set three began with a 3-0 Titan lead on a Valdez kill and Feeney ace. Junis tacked on two more to make it 5-1 but the Pointers had a response. A 6-3 run from UWSP tied the match at seven but an O'Brien kill quickly broke the tie. Palmer took care of the next three points for IWU as she teamed up with Whitaker for a block. The senior then picked up two kills after an everlasting rally to make it 11-8, causing a Pointer timeout. UW-Stevens Point crept back to make it 12-11, but Shannon and Valdez tooled a pair of kills off the blockers to increase the lead. Following the media timeout at 15-13, Whitaker split the blockers for a kill and Palmer followed it for a 17-14 advantage. In the midst of a 5-1 run Whitaker tallied another kill and Bardouniotis blocked a floating ball to get to 20-14. Whitaker. Palmer and Whitaker went back-to-back again and sophomore Shelby Sennett (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) made it set point with an ace. Palmer sealed the match with an exclamation point as her and Shannon stuffed the final point for the sweep

Illinois Wesleyan continues the Polito's Invite tomorrow, Oct. 17 against Lawrence and No. 2 UW-Oshkosh. IWU takes on the Vikings at 10:30 a.m. before the battle of the Titans at 12:30 p.m.
Print Friendly Version