Valdez & Lawton Garner CCIW Weekly Awards

Valdez earns first career accolade, Lawton snags sixth

10/19/2026 3:00:00 PM

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - The top-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team took two-of-three College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin weekly awards as junior Juliana Valdez (Palos Heights, Ill.-Marist) snagged offensive player of the week and classmate Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) collected her fourth defensive accolade of the season Monday, Oct. 19.

The recognition for Valdez marks her first career weekly award while Lawton records her sixth career defensive player of the week award (Sept. 17, 2024, Sept. 8. 2025, Sept. 7, 2026, Sept. 14, 2026, Oct. 12, 2026, Oct. 19, 2026). The duo led the Green and White to a 4-0 week and improved its record to 20-1 with sweeps over North Park, UW-Stevens Point, Lawrence, and No. 2 UW-Oshkosh.

A monster four-match stretch for middle hitter Valdez, led an IWU attack that hit .261 over the week. The week was headlined by Valdez, who hit .475 in 40 attempts with 22 kills and just three errors. She was a stalwart at the net, finishing with 14 blocks, three solo rejections, and 11 block assists, for 1.17 blocks per set. Her week began hitting .375 against North Park with four kills. At the Polito's Invite at UWSP, she hit .500 against the Pointers with four kills, .600 with seven kills versus Lawrence, and .429 with seven kills against UWO. She had six block assists against NPU and picked up solo vetoes against Lawrence, UWSP, and UWO. Her block party also included three block assists versus Oshkosh and two against UW-Stevens Point.

Lawton strung together another impressive week holding down the Titans' back row. Through four games, she had 5.25 digs per set with 63 total digs. The junior helped out the offense with 14 assists and smacked four aces along the way. In 12 sets, she snagged 14 digs against North Park, 17 against UW-Stevens Point, 13 against Lawrence, and capped it with 19 against second-ranked UW-Oshkosh. Lawton helped out the defense, holding opponent attacks to a .139 clip. With her weekend performance in Wisconsin, Lawton was named to the Polito's Invite All-Tournament Team.

Valdez, Lawton, and the rest of the Titans return to the Shirk Center Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. for a match against Carthage College, setting up a meeting between the top-two CCIW teams in the standings.

2026 Women's Volleyball Student-Athletes of the Week

Week 1
Offensive: Alex Bardouniotis, Illinois Wesleyan
Defensive: Alysa Lawton, Illinois Wesleyan
Setter: Ava Dettwiler, Carthage

Week 2
Offensive: Katie Hurta, Elmhurst
Defensive: Alysa Lawton, Illinois Wesleyan
Setter: Ava Dettwiler, Carthage

Week 3
Offensive: Katie Hurta, Elmhurst
Defensive: Elayna Ammerman, Elmhurst
Setter: Kendal Britton, North Park

Week 4
Offensive: Kristina Manojlovic, Carthage
Defensive: Hailey Wierzgac, Carthage
Setter: Sarah Harvey, North Central

Week 5
Offensive: Kristina Manojlovic, Carthage
Defensive: Samantha Miserendino, Carroll
Setter: Freddie Temple, Elmhurst

Week 6
Offensive: Mary Patrick, Wheaton
Defensive: Alysa Lawton, Illinois Wesleyan
Setter: Kendal Britton, North Park

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