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Lauren Obrien and Eleanor Palmer celebrate
AJE Photography 2026
1
Wittenberg Witten 3-6,0-0 NCAC
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Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 9-1,0-0 CCIW
Wittenberg Witten
3-6,0-0 NCAC
1
Final
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Ill. Wesleyan IWU
9-1,0-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Wittenberg Witten 25 23 21 14 (1)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 22 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Whitaker & Palmer Power Titans Past Wittenberg in Four

Titan duo combined for 25 kills on a .458 clip

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Big nights from senior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) and sophomore Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton) powered the sixth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team to a four-set victory over Wittenberg University Friday night, Sept. 18, inside the Shirk Center. IWU (9-1) dropped the opening set 25-22, before downing the Tigers (3-6) 25-23, 25-21, 25-14. 

Illinois Wesleyan hit .272 for the match with 55 kills, while the defense limited Wittenberg to a .149 clip and 45 kills. Leading the way for the Titans, Whitaker put up 14 kills on a .500 clip while adding for blocks on the defensive side. Palmer posted 11 kills on a .409 attacking percentage. The senior middle tacked on two blocks. 

Senior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) tallied a team-high 25 assists, with sophomore Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) adding 19. Defensively, three Titans cleared double-digits in digs. Junior Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) went for 16, while juniors Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) and Graci Junis (Morton, Ill.-Morton) racked up 13 and 10, respectively. 

Overall, the Titans held leads in nearly every category. The Green and White compiled advantages in kills (55-46), digs (60-59), and blocks (7-6). The Tigers' serve led to a 12-7 edge in aces.

IWU put itself behind the eight ball early in set one as Wittenberg jumped to an 8-5 lead with four straight points. The Green and White mixed in a couple kills but the Tiger attack stayed on the prowl for a 16-9 advantage. The Titans answered with back-to-back kills from Bardouniotis and a big swing from senior Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) but Wittenberg responded again to force a timeout with IWU trailing, 19-12.

Palmer and Shannon kills along with a couple Wittenberg miscues saw Illinois Wesleyan trim the deficit to four, 20-16, into a Tigers timeout. Whitaker notched consecutive kills a bit later to bring the home team within three, but an error gave the visitors set point, 24-20. Sophomore Shelby Sennett (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) entered to serve following a kill by Whitaker. Sennett's serve had too much on it as Wittenberg sent the ball right back over for a Juliana Valdez (Palos Heights, Ill.-Marist) slam. Ultimately, it was a joust at the net won by the Tigers that ended the set, 25-21.

The Titans fell behind again in set two but Shannon kept them in it with a kill and a solo stuff to tie it at five. Shannon used a beautiful set from Palmer to tie the set at seven. IWU swung momentum in its favor with three straight kills from the Palmer-Shannon duo and a Junis kill made it 12-8. The Tigers tied it again but Whitaker painted the line for a point. The two traded points until IWU caught the lead at 22-21 with a kill from Bardouniotis then an ace from the junior made it 24-21 before Shannon hammered down a kill to take it, 25-23.. 

The Green and White hit nearly identical to the opening set at .268, but the defense limited the Tigers to a .170 clip to level the match at one set apiece. 

After finding themselves down 5-0, the Titans battled back to tie it at five on a Valdez kill then ran to a 14-7 lead, with kills from Shannon and Whitaker and a big block by Valdez and Bardouniotis. Wittenberg did not have much of an answer for Illinois Wesleyan as the home team's lead neared double-digits, 19-10. Nevertheless, a five-point run made things interesting late in the set, but a Wittenberg service error cued set point, 24-21. Palmer finished off the set with a kill on a helper from O'Brien to propel IWU ahead, two sets to one.

What began as a back and forth affair saw the Titans jolt ahead 12-7 on the back of four straight points. After three consecutive errors by the Tigers, Palmer put away a set from O'Brien to force a Wittenberg timeout.

Leading by five out of the reset, Palmer and Whitaker combined for a rejection. The duo teamed up again to disrupt the Tiger attack, with Whitaker eventually sending a shot to the back corner. The sophomore right side remained hot with two more kills as IWU maintained control, 17-10. The Titans kept the attack going as Bardouniotis crafted one off the blocker for a 20-11 lead. Junis made it 22-13 with a nifty tip after O'Brien kept the rally going. Miscues from the Tigers kept control with Titans with Whitaker completing the win with her 14th kill of the night.  

The Green and White will rise early tomorrow morning, Sept. 19 for a 10 a.m. match against Simpson College and a 4 p.m. contest vs Greenville to wrap up the IWU Tournament II.
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