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WVB cele over UWO
Doug Sasse
0
Lawrence LU 14-8,5-0 Midwest
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 19-1,6-0 CCIW
Lawrence LU
14-8,5-0 Midwest
0
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
19-1,6-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Lawrence LU 21 20 16 (0)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 25 25 (3)
0
Wis.-Oshkosh UWO 21-3,4-0 WIAC
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 20-1,6-0 CCIW
Wis.-Oshkosh UWO
21-3,4-0 WIAC
0
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
20-1,6-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Wis.-Oshkosh UWO 23 18 23 (0)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Top-Ranked Women’s Volleyball Knocks off No. 2 UW-Oshkosh, Sweeps Polito’s Invite

Highest Ranked win since 2017

STEVENS  POINT, Wis. - Completing play at the Polito's Invite hosted by University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, the No. 1 ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team added two wins to its season total with a pair of sweeps Saturday, Oct. 17. The Titans downed Lawrence University in straight sets (25-20, 25-21, 25-16) to open the day before sweeping (25-23, 25-18, 25-23) second-ranked University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh to close the weekend. Senior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) and junior Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) were named to the all-tournament team for their performances in the three-match weekend. 

IWU's win over UW-Oshkosh marked the program's highest since taking down No. 1 ranked Calvin University in the 2017 season. The Green and White jumped to 20-1 on the season with the victories. The win over LU marked the best start in program history through 20 games and runs its win streak to 13 games. Lawrence fell to 14-8, while Oshkosh slipped to 21-3.

Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 3, Lawrence 0

A powerful attack in sets two and three propelled the sweep as senior Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) led the squad with 10 kills, seven coming in the third set. Senior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) was magnificent with 25 assists, 11 in the final set. For the match, IWU hit .246 with 46 kills. Out of the final 50 points, IWU managed 36 kills. On the attack, Shannon was joined by Morton, Ill. natives sophomore Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton) and junior Graci Junis (Morton Ill.-Morton) with nine and eight kills, respectively. Junior Juliana Valdez (Palos Heights, Ill.-Marist) hit .600, finishing with seven kills. Sophomore Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) found success at the service line with a season-high five aces and dished out 11 assists.

IWU led in kills (46-33), assists (43-31), and digs (50-44). Junior Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) led the defense again with 13 digs as Junis was right behind her with 12. 

The Green and White picked up right where it left off last night with a quick 4-0 lead out of the gates. It was set up by a pair of Junis aces and a Valdez kill followed by a pair of Whitaker swings that found hardwood from O'Brien to lead 8-4. After the Vikings battled back to within one, 10-9, Valdez and Feeney connected for a kill then Feeney served junior Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) on straight swings for a 14-10 lead and an LU timeout. Following the break, IWU kept the pressure up with a Whitaker kill and a Viking miscommunication led to a Lawton ace. Leading 20-11, O'Brien dialed up a pair of aces into an LU timeout and followed the break with two more to set up set point. With its backs against the wall, Lawrence rattled off a 10-0 run to pull within three, 24-21, but a ball sent over prematurely from the Vikings resulted in a Whitaker kill and a set victory for IWU.

Set two began with IWU behind for the first time in the match but Junis, Valdez and Lawton worked together to tie things at three. The two traded six straight kills before senior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) stole the momentum with a block and a kill for a 9-6 lead. Whitaker piled on with a kill on a set from Lawton and Bardouniotis served a ball that was too hot to handle to double up the Vikings 12-6. O'Brien found Palmer again for a kill before Shannon and Feeney teamed up for straight points for a 16-10 advantage. The Titans kept their distance from LU as Feeney found Bardouniotis and O'Brien connected with Whitaker and Palmer to grow the lead to 21-14. Lawrence responded with kills of its own but Junis snuck a ball in on the back row then split defenders for set point. In the midst of seven combined straight kills for both groups, Shannon solidified one more, sneaking up the middle and tapping the ball over the blockers for a set win. 

On the verge of swapping its  first two matches of the weekend, IWU started the third with a 1-0 lead and grew it 5-3 on kills four kills from Shannon, Whitaker, Palmer and Junis. Continuing to share the wealth, Feeney continued her strong match with assists to Valdez who gave IWU its eighth and ninth points of the match. Out of a Lawrence timeout, Shannon connected on her third kill of the set at 10-5. Feeney handed out more assists to Junis and Valdez before she caught the defense lacking, mixing in a kill of her own for a 15-8 advantage. Bardouniotis grew the lead to 18-10 before Shannon smacked home kills from Junis and Lawton over her three point stretch to lead 22-12. The Vikings tried to retaliate but Feeney gave out her 24th and 25th assists of the morning to Shannon and Bardouniotis to finish the sweep. 

Game Two: Illinois Wesleyan 3, UW-Oshkosh 0

The attack stayed consistent against UWO, finishing with a .257 attack percentage. IWU held commanding leads in kills (48-36), attack percentage (.257-.164), assists (43-32), and digs (48-35). 

Shannon's monster day continued, captaining IWU with 10 kills at a .434 clip. Palmer was right behind her with eight strikes and finished with a .667 attack percentage. Whitaker and Junis sprinkled in seven kills. Feeney and O'Brien were sensational with 19 and 18 assists, respectively. Feeney added two kills and O'Brien found the hardwood once.

Lawton's big weekend continued with 19 digs in the three set match, carrying the defense along with Valdez who tallied a solo block and three block assist. The defense tallied 48 digs and held UWO to a .164 attack percentage. 

The energy from the morning match carried over to the first set in the battle of the Titans as Illinois Wesleyan snagged an early 3-2 lead on a Shannon kill and grew it to 6-3 on a pair of Oshkosh miscues. More errors plagued UWO as IWU took a 9-4 advantage then Whitaker, Junis, and Palmer combined for three straight swings and a 12-5 lead.  Fresh out of an Oshkosh timeout, Whitaker swatted a kill from O'Brien to make it 13-6 and Valdez grew the lead to 17-9 on a kill. UW-Oshkosh did not go down quietly and it made its run at IWU. An 11-1 run forced head coach Kim Nelson-Brown to call both of her timeouts as the IWU attack went silent and UWO took a 20-18 lead. Whitaker and Palmer responded to the timeout with back-to-back kills and Bardouniotis beat the UWO defense with an ace and a 22-21 advantage. O'Brien's hot hand continued with an assist to Junis who kept a ball in on the side. UWO responded with a kill of its own but Whitaker set up a set point on a bullet to the back line. The Green and White took set one as a strike from UWO landed out of bounce.

A back and forth contest at the beginning saw UWO strike first. The Green and White used a Shannon kill to tie it at two and a Bardouniotis swing made it 5-4. Even at six, the Green and White took the lead on a powerful strike from Palmer and never looked back. A 5-1 run ensued as Shannon put down two kills and Junis and Valdez followed into a UWO timeout at 11-7. Feeney crafted an ace out of the timeout for a 12-7 advantage but UW-Oshkosh battled back to make it 12-10. Valdez kept the energy going with a kill to make it 14-11 then followed with a monster block into the media timeout, 15-11. With UWO's defense on its heels. Feeney dumped a ball into the middle of the court and Valdez slid to her right to join Whitaker on a double block for a 17-11 advantage. Feeney and Valdez then teamed up for a kill and Whitaker and Palmer capped a 4-1 run to make it 20-13. The attack stayed red hot down the stretch as Palmer hammered a kill to the hardwood. Junis followed on consecutive swings to make it a set point and Shannon went cross-court for the dominant set win. 

The Green and White came out firing in the third set, jolting to a 5-1 advantage thanks to two kills from Shannon and a block from the senior and Valdez. UWO pulled within one at 5-4 but Shannon calmed down her IWU squad with a kill and Whitaker followed to make it 7-5. Lawton cued up a ball for Bardouniotis who beat the defense and an attack error boosted the lead to 9-5. Another response from UW-Oshkosh came with a 7-1 run and a 12-0 UWO advantage as Nelson-Brown had to use her first timeout. The break seemed to pay dividends as O'Brien froze the defense on a dump to draw even at 12 and straight Junis-Shannon kills won the race to 15 and the media timeout. As the match resumed, two attack errors from UWO forced a UW-Oshkosh timeout to pause the action at 17-14. Three straight swings from UWO found the hardwood to tie it at 17 and then again at 18. The two continued to trade points with ties at 20, 21, and 23 before Palmer tooled one off the blocker for a 24-23 lead. Needing one more point to sweep UW-Oshkosh in back-to-back seasons, Feeney laid out for a dig and Valdez's outstretched arm connected with a looper that hit the hardwood to secure the sweep. 

Illinois Wesleyan returns home for a key College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin match against Carthage College Wednesday, Oct. 21. First serve from the Shirk Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. With a win, the Titans can claim at least a share of the league's regular season title and the No. 1 seed next month's CCIW Tournament.
 
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