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0
Wartburg WAR 0-1,0-0 American Rivers
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 1-0,0-0 CCIW
Wartburg WAR
0-1,0-0 American Rivers
0
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
1-0,0-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Wartburg WAR 14 13 22 (0)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 25 25 (3)
2
Aurora AUR 1-1,0-0 NACC
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 2-0,0-0 CCIW
Aurora AUR
1-1,0-0 NACC
2
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
2-0,0-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Aurora AUR 24 23 25 26 9 (2)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 26 25 19 24 15 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

No. 8 Women’s Volleyball Sweeps Season-Opening Tri

Titans take down Wartburg & Aurora

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The No. 8 Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team began its season 2-0 with wins over Wartburg College and Aurora University Tuesday, Sept. 1, inside the Shirk Center. The Titans (2-0) made quick work of the Knights (0-2) with a sweep, before outlasting the Spartans (1-1) in five sets (26-24, 25-23, 19-25, 24-26, 15-9).

Headlining the day was junior Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep), who compiled 58 digs over the day's two matches. Lawton's eye-popping performance came in the late-night triumph as she picked up 41 digs against Aurora. Her career-high total ranks tied for third-most in program history alongside Faith Washko (41 vs. Mount St. Joseph - Sept. 24, 2021), while they are the most since Taylor French's 42-dig performance Oct. 28, 2022.

Match One: Illinois Wesleyan 3, Wartburg 0

The Green and White rolled to a sweep over Wartburg to begin the day, downing the Knights in straight sets 25-14, 25-13, and 25-22. 

Junior Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) powered the attack with 16 kills on a .424 clip. Junior Graci Junis (Morton, Ill.-Morton) impressed in her debut, putting down nine kills. Senior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) tacked on six alongside a team-leading three blocks. Senior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) dished out a match-best 18 assists, with sophomore Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) finishing with nine.

Leading the defense, junior Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC College Prep) notched a match-high 17 digs. Junis narrowly missed a double-double with nine digs. Lawton led IWU from the service line, notching three aces, while Junis and junior Libby Detweiler (Downs, Ill-Tri Valley) recorded two apiece.

Overall, Illinois Wesleyan was dominant across the stat sheet. The Titans tallied 28 kills to the Knights' 26, aided by a .268 to .080 attacking percentage. The Green and White also led in digs (42-40), assists (34-25), aces (8-4), and blocks (5-3). 

The two teams went back and forth, playing to an 8-8 tie before the Titans took off on a five-point run and never looked back. After a pair of miscues by the Knights, Feeney set up three straight IWU kills. Bardouniotis downed back-to-back balls and Palmer polished off a kill for a 13-8 advantage. A service error disrupted the Green and White temporarily, but two swings by senior Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) and a Junis kill upped the lead to seven, 16-9. 

Illinois Wesleyan never looked back, taking the set 25-14. The Green and White jolted out to a 5-1 lead in the second before closing out a 25-13 win on a six-point run. 

The final set proved to be the tightest of the match, as Wartburg erased IWU's early lead on the back of four straight Titan errors. With the score knotted at 18, O'Brien set Shannon for a kill and Feeney delivered an ace for a 20-18 lead. Kills by Palmer, Bardouniotis, and Junis put the Titans on the verge, 24-20, but Wartburg had one more comeback attempt in the tank. The Knights stuffed an IWU attack and then served up an ace to pull within two, 24-22. A well-time substitution iced the Knights' serve to give the home team the sweep, 25-22.

Match Two: Illinois Wesleyan 3, Aurora 2

To go along with Lawton's 41 digs, Junis and Bardouniotis added 16 and 13, respectively, for a team total of 92. Bardouniotis tallied 21 kills to lead the squad as sophomore Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton) came up clutch late with eight total. The dynamic setting duo of Feeney and O'Brien combined for 43 assists. Defensively IWU totaled 10 blocks.

Coming off a three-set win over Wartburg, Aurora came out swinging in the final match of the day. The Spartans soared out to a 4-1 lead and appeared to up their lead to 8-3, but a timely challenge by head coach Kim Nelson-Brown on a Junis attack pulled the Titans within three, 7-4.

After Shannon and junior Juliana Valdez (Palos Heights, Ill.-Marist) joined forces for a block, the Green and White ripped off seven points in-a-row to claim its first lead of the match and move ahead, 13-10. 

Trading leads through the middle of the set, the Titans found themselves down three, 22-19. Nelson-Brown's timeout proved effective, with O'Brien setting Valdez for a kill out of the reset. An AU attack error made it a one-point game before a kill by Shannon and a Bardouniotis-Palmer block turned the tables for a 24-23 IWU lead. Aurora leveled the score with a kill, but a Spartan attack error gave the home team set point. Junis put a set from Feeney away, tooling the block to secure the set, 26-24.

Illinois Wesleyan persevered through a sluggish start with Aurora cruising in front, 15-5 into an IWU timeout. The double-digit deficit was not enough to break the Green and White however, as the Titans used an 11-1 run to even the set at 16 all. With Feeney at the service line, an attack error gave the Titans their first lead of the set. The senior setter kept things rolling with a rare kill followed by a more common ace to grab an 18-16 advantage. 

Aurora took five of the next eight points to even the score late, but another challenge from Nelson-Brown gave Junis a kill and the home team set point. Bardouniotis completed the comeback, hammering down a set from Lawton to take a two sets to none lead.

IWU dropped its first set of the season in the third set after jumping out to a quick 4-1 lead. Four consecutive points from AU erased the Green and White's lead to make it 5-4. Aurora responded with a pair of aces to tie it once again. The teams traded points until Aurora gained breathing room with straight kills to make it 19-16 and then 21-17. Errors plagued the Titans the rest of the set as the Spartans polished off a 25-19 set three.

With Illinois Wesleyan winning the first two sets, Aurora returned the favor and took the third and fourth to force a fifth set. Bardouniotis struck first with a kill but AU snuck out to a 6-5 lead, capitalizing on a few Titan miscues. The Green and White capitalized on the momentum moving the score to match point but Aurora tied it with a kill to make it 24 all. An attack error from the Titans and another kill by the Spartans capped off the fourth set. 

Switching sides for the match's final set, IWU rattled off the first two points and then grew the lead to 5-2 thanks to Spartan attack errors. The Titans grew the lead to 10-7 after a Shannon kill and the first collegiate ace from freshman Ashlyn Fazio (Pittsburgh, Pa.-North Hills Senior). IWU stayed in command from there on out, building a 14-9 lead on a Whitaker and Junis' kill and a hammer from Bardouniotis solidified the match.

Illinois Wesleyan continues its early season homestand as host to IWU Tournament I this Friday-Saturday, Sept. 4-5, inside the Shirk Center.
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