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Team celebrating a point
© AshtinElder
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 22-1,8-0 CCIW
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North Central (IL) NCC 9-9,3-3 CCIW
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
22-1,8-0 CCIW
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Final
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North Central (IL) NCC
9-9,3-3 CCIW
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 25 19 25 (3)
North Central (IL) NCC 17 23 25 13 (1)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Women’s Volleyball Completes Sweep of CCIW Regular Season

Titans down North Central in four sets, finish 8-0 in league play

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - The No. 1 Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball needed four sets to down North Central College Wednesday night, Oct. 28, at Gregory Arena. IWU (22-1) won with set scores of 25-17, 25-23, 19-25, and 25-13 to close out its third straight 8-0 run through the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin regular season and secure the league's title outright. North Central dipped to 9-9 overall (3-3 CCIW) with the setback.

Illinois Wesleyan used an attack that produced four hitters with nine-or-more kills. Juniors Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) and sophomore Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton) led the way with 10 kills apiece. Bardouniotis notched a double-double with 12 digs and added a team-high three aces, while Whitaker hit a team-leading .350 on the night. Senior Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.- Lake Park) followed with nine kills and five digs. Junior Graci Junis (Morton, Ill.-Morton) posted a team-high 18 digs alongside nine kills, narrowly missing out on the double-double. She also tacked on a pair of aces.

Senior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) picked up a 21-assist, 14-dig double-double. It was her third of the year. Sophomore Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) contributed 15 helpers with five digs. 

Rounding out IWU's four double-digit digs performers, junior Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) was credited with 16. The Elmhurst, Ill. native also tallied two aces and eight assists. The net defense was led by Whitaker, Junis, senior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) and junior Juliana Valdez (Palos Heights, Ill.-Marist) as each of the four posted two blocks. 

Overall, the Titans hit .159 for the match with 48 kills to NCC's 39. IWU limited the Cardinals to a .086 clip on the night, while also racking up leads in assists (46-38) and digs (76-73). Each team finished with eight aces and six blocks.

Kills by Junis and Valdez got the Titans started off on the right foot and a string of three kills from Bardouniotis pushed the Green and White ahead, 5-1. NCC battled back, knotting the score at six, but back-to-back putaways from Palmer reclaimed an 8-6 advantage. 

IWU used aces by Bardouniotis and sophomore Shelby Sennett (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) along with kills from Whitaker and Shannon to take control, 14-8. The Cardinals clawed back, but a Palmer-Junis block forced an NCC timeout with Illinois Wesleyan ahead, 15-11. The pause did little to slow the Green and White as Junis combined with Valdez for a rejection before serving up an ace. Shannon slammed down a kill off a Feeney helper. North Central called its second and final timeout after a miscue, but Bardouniotis' kill out of the reset stretched the lead to six, 21-15. 

Illinois Wesleyan closed out the set victory with a big swing from Palmer and NCC error to grab a 1-0 lead in the match.

The second set was far tighter, as the Titans and Cardinals played through a series of ties. Illinois Wesleyan used a four-point run powered by Shannon and Bardouniotis kills as well as an NCC error and Lawton ace to jolt ahead, 14-10, midway through. North Central came right back, taking the next four points. A kill from Bardouniotis put the visitors back in front at the media timeout, but the home team took three of the next four points to claim a 17-16 edge.

The lead did not last long as the two teams played to ties at 17, 18, 19, and 23. IWU napped a four-point lead, 23-19, on a Junis kill after consecutive North Central errors, but the Cardinals had another comeback attempt in them. Aided by IWU miscues, NCC tied the score at 23 all into Illinois Wesleyan's second timeout. The regrouping session proved timely as Junis came out with a kill and a strong serve led to a Cardinals attacking error to close a 25-23 triumph.

The Green and White put themselves in a 7-0 deficit to begin the third, and despite a few late runs, fell, 25-19. It was the first set that saw NCC outhit IWU, as the home team connected on a .196 clip to the Titans' .063 mark. 

Illinois Wesleyan responded in a big way in the fourth, putting its foot on the gas and never letting up. The Titans won seven of nine points to take control and never looked back. A kill by Junis and two by Shannon aided the run as IWU took a 10-4 lead. The Green and White used a series of big runs to run away with the set, 25-13, with Shannon closing the match with a ninth kill of the night. IWU hit .244 for the set, while limiting NCC to .000 with six kills and six errors. 

Illinois Wesleyan rests tomorrow before hosting its third tournament of the year. The Titans take on UC Santa Cruz Friday, Oct. 30 with a matinee match at 2:30 p.m. They will end the night with a ranked contest against No. 14 University of Wisconsin Eau Claire at 7 p.m. 



 
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