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2026 CCIW Tournament Champion Volleyball Team
Audrey Peterson
1
Elmhurst ELM 18-12,5-3 CCIW
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 27-3,8-0 CCIW
Elmhurst ELM
18-12,5-3 CCIW
1
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
27-3,8-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Elmhurst ELM 22 25 14 21 (1)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 16 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Three-Peat Complete: Titans Crowned CCIW Tournament Champions

Women’s Volleyball wins program’s eighth conference title

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - For the third straight season, the No. 2 Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team won the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament, knocking off Elmhurst, 3-1, inside a buzzing Shirk Center Saturday, Nov. 14. The Titans (27-3) flew past the Bluejays (18-12) in set scores of 25-22, 16-25, 25-14, and 25-21 to take the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament.

With the win, the 2026 squad becomes the eighth team in program history to win the CCIW Tournament Championship joining the 1991, 1995, 1997, 2018, 2021, 2024, and 2025 teams. The Green and White becomes the first team to win the conference tournament in three consecutive seasons in 15 years, joining Elmhurst (1986-88 and 2000-02) and Carthage (2006-11). Another milestone Illinois Wesleyan hit tonight was the program's 1000th win.

Junior Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) was the recipient of the conference's Elite 26 Award. Bardouniotis, majoring in communications, held the highest undergraduate grade-point average among eligible All-CCIW honorees in the championship match. She is the first Titan to take home the award since Annika Alterkruse claimed it in 2021.

The powerful Titan attack hit .333 to outlast a strong Bluejay offense that hit .239. IWU held leads in most offensive categories with kills (61-52), assists (57-44), blocks (8-4), and digs (63-58). In the sets the Green and White won, IWU hit .400-or-better with .441 in the first set being its best. The offense was resilient with four Titans totalling double-digit kills. 

Senior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul) put together an impressive performance finishing at a .556 clip with 10 kills. Sophomore Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton) followed suit hitting .563 matching Palmer's kill total. Senior Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) led the way in kills with 15 at a .400 clip. Junior Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) tallied 11 along with 13 digs.

The defense battled the Bluejay attack, led by junior Alysa Lawton's (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) 22 digs. She added five assists and was helped out by Bardouniotis' 13 digs and junior Graci Junis' (Morton, Ill.-Morton) nine. Senior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) and sophomore Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) dished out a combined 49 assists with Feeney giving 25 and O'Brien contributing 24.

The championship match started off with a tight opening set. Elmhurst jumped out to the early edge and weathered IWU timeouts to maintain a cushion, 18-14. Illinois Wesleyan turned the tide with a kill from Shannon on a Feeney helper. After tying the score at 20 and 21, junior Juliana Valdez (Palos Heights, Ill.-Marist) and Bardouniotis joined forces for an emphatic rejection at the net to bring a roaring Shirk crowd to their feet. Bardouniotis followed with a kill to force Elmhurst's second and final timeout, but the pause did little to slow IWU as Valdez split the back line for a kill to close the set, 25-22.

The second played out similarly to the first, with Elmhurst grabbing a 13-7 lead near the midpoint. Deviating from the opener, the Bluejays held on for the win, 25-16, to knot the match at one set apiece as the teams switched sides.

Valdez split the back row to get the home team started on the right foot in the third. Shannon slammed one down the line and Bardouniotis smoked a kill down for a 3-0 Titan lead. The Green and White doubled up the Bluejays, 10-5, after a gritty dig by Lawton made way for a Bardouniotis kill.

IWU expanded its lead with a three-point run behind kills from Palmer and Shannon. Momentum remained with the Titans as Shannon and Valdez teamed up for a veto and an 18-8 IWU advantage. The Green and White showed no signs of slowing down with sophomore Shelby Sennett (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) securing the win on an ace, 25-14. The win was powered by an IWU attack that hit .417 for the set.

A slow start was erased with a seven-point run by the Titans. After trailing 4-0, Illinois Wesleyan batted back with Junis aces, Shannon kills, and a Valdez-Shannon rejection to climb in front, 7-4. Riding the hot hand of freshman Josie Neukomm (Cissna Park, Ill.-Cissna Park), IWU used four straight tools from the rookie to take charge, 15-8.

Playing to continue their season, the Bluejays mounted a comeback, but a Kim Nelson-Brown timeout put an end to that. An EU service error out of the break was followed by kills from Palmer, Whitaker, and Shannon to cue match point, 24-20. The Titans ultimately took the set, 25-21, securing their third straight CCIW Tournament title.

Illinois Wesleyan will learn its NCAA Tournament path as part of the national selection show Monday, Nov. 16, at 1 p.m. ET. The show will stream on ncaa.com.
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