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Whitaker hits a ball
AJE Photography 2026
1
Simpson SIM 6-3,0-0 American Rivers
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 10-1,0-0 CCIW
Simpson SIM
6-3,0-0 American Rivers
1
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
10-1,0-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Simpson SIM 22 25 16 16 (1)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 23 25 25 (3)
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Greenville GRNVLU 6-5,0-0 SLIAC
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Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 11-1,0-0 CCIW
Greenville GRNVLU
6-5,0-0 SLIAC
1
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
11-1,0-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Greenville GRNVLU 20 11 26 18 (1)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 25 24 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Women’s Volleyball Closes Weekend with Two Wins

Whitaker named tournament MVP

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Hosting its second home tournament of the year, the sixth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team improved to 11-1 on the season with wins over Simpson College and Greenville University Saturday, Sept. 19, inside the Shirk Center. 

The Titans (11-1) slowed the Storm (6-4) with set scores of 25-22, 23-25, 25-16, and 25-16 to win the day's first match. IWU closed the day with another four set win against Greenville (5-6) with set scores of 25-20, 25-11, 24-26, 25-18.  Sophomore Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton) was voted the tournament's Most Valuable Player, while senior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) and junior Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) joined her on the all-tournament team. 

Match One: Illinois Wesleyan 3, Simpson 1

Three Titans posted 10+ kills in the win, with Whitaker continuing to torch opponents. The lefty tied a career high 18 kills on a .444 attacking percentage, while adding in three blocks. Junior Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) tacked on 14 kills, with senior Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) totaling 10 on a .364 clip. Junior Graci Junis (Morton, Ill.-Morton) contributed nine kills alongside a team-high four aces, eight digs, and three assists. 

The setting duo of senior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) and sophomore Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) continued to orchestrate the Titan attack, leading IWU to a .228 hitting percentage. Feeney finished with 26 assists and O'Brien added 18. 

Lawton racked up a team-high 24 digs while notching six assists and an ace. Bardouniotis completed a double-double with 18 digs, with Junis and O'Brien adding eight apiece. At the net, Palmer posted a team-high four blocks. Whitaker, Shannon, and junior Juliana Valdez (Palos Heights, Ill.-Marist) were credited with three each.

The two teams went toe-to-toe in the early goings, playing through several ties before Simpson broke through with a three-point spurt to snag a 14-11 advantage. The run was halted with a timeout by head coach Kim Nelson-Brown to put the Titans back on track. Coming out of the reset, Lawton set Bardouniotis for a big swing from the outside. The junior followed with another slam to the back line to pull IWU within one, 14-13.

The Storm took three of the next four points to reclaim its cushion, 17-14. An ace extended Simpson's stronghold to 20-16 and saw Nelson-Brown call her second timeout. The pause once again proved timely with Palmer beating the block with a kill through the middle. An outstanding dig by Feeney kept the rally alive with Simpson sending an attack out for an error. Two more Storm hitting miscues leveled the score at 20. Simpson burned a timeout, but it proved ineffective as clutch digs by Valdez and others led to kills by Whitaker and Junis. The Titans worked around a pair of errors of their own to snatch the opening set, 25-22.

The Green and White played behind in the second set, with Simpson doubling up IWU, 10-5, into a timeout. IWU went to its middle on back-to-back sets with O'Brien feeding Palmer and Feeney assisting Valdez on kills. After Simpson took the next point, a Titan killl and two straight aces by Junis followed. A near-third ace by Junis had the Storm off balance and Valdez took full advantage, winning a ball at the net for a kill to knot the score, 11-11. The Storm brewed up a 5-2 run, taking a 16-12 advantage, into a timeout called by Nelson-Brown. The pause in action worked for the Titans as Shannon, Palmer, and Bardouniotis delivered kills to pull within two, 19-17. Simpson answered with a 5-1 run to make it set point before the Titans answered with a 5-0 run of its own. Illinois Wesleyan's comeback fell short, 25-23.

A hot start to the third was powered by a hard-hitting kill from Bardounitotis for a 6-3 lead but the Storm came back to tie things at six. IWU then took over with an ace from Bardouniotis and big swings from Junis and Whitaker. With a firm lead in hand, 21-13, the Titans came out of  a Storm timeout with a Valdez-Shannon denial. A pair of Simpson errors along with a Bardouniotis kill closed out a 25-16 Illinois Wesleyan victory.

The explosive Titan offense was geared up for set four starting with three kills and an ace from Junis for a 4-1 lead. Simpson made its run to tie it at six but the Titan attack weathered the Storm. Shannon and Palmer started the run and was joined by an ace from Lawton to make it 14-8 and Junis hammered two kills for a 16-11 advantage. Valdez and Whitaker timed a block then Valdez and Bardouniotis partnered up for straight kills. With the set in hand, the Green and White closed with its stout net presence. Junis and Palmer pushed it to match point, 24-16, and Palmer and Whitaker joined forces for the match-clinching denial, 25-16.

Overall, the Titans churned out 61 kills on a .228 clip with 55 assists. The Storm were limited to a .126 hitting percentage with 44 kills on 159 swings. IWU collected a 7-3 lead in aces, but SC scored a 9-8 edge in blocks. 

Match Two: Illinois Wesleyan 3, Greenville 1

The Green and White's offense stayed hot in game two with a .287 hitting percentage. The Titans dominated in every statistical category with 63 kills, 51 assists, and 11 service aces. Defensively, IWU tallied 69 digs to GU's 48 but the Panthers nabbed them in the blocking category, 7-4. The Illinois Wesleyan defense held Greenville to a .162 hitting percentage. 

Bardouniotis recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 15 digs. Lawton tallied a match-high 25 digs as Junis collected 10.

Palmer did the heavy lifting again with 15 kills with Whitaker and Bardouniotis joining her with double-digit smashes with 11 and 10. Feeney and O'Brien held down the passing for the Titans with 24 and 21 assists. 

After an emotional five-set win earlier in the day, Greenville came into the contest poised for an upset. However, the Titans nabbed control after breaking a 4-4 tie. They used kills from Whitaker and defensive gems from Lawton for an 11-9 lead. The Titan attack pressed on with a big kill from Junis followed by Whitaker and Palmer made it 20-14 into a Panther timeout. GU delivered a pair of kills but IWU finished off the set with straight kills from Junis and Bardouniotis. 

Illinois Wesleyan rolled to an 11-4 lead in the second, aided by an eight-point run. O'Brien and Palmer captained the run, with O'Brien notching an ace before assisting on one of Palmer's three kills. The run came to a close with a rocket from Shannon to put IWU up 11-4. The Titans outran the Panthers, continuing the offensive onslaught to a 20-14 advantage. Kills by junior Libby Detweiler (Downs, Ill.-Tri Valley) and senior Paige Peterson (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) and an ace by O'Brien closed the set, 25-11.

The third set was the tightest of them all, despite IWU controlling the early portion with a 7-3 advantage on a Bardouniotis kill and a sneaky O'Brien ace. The Panthers prowled their way back in it at 11-10 and later tied it at 13. The two traded points until O'Brien took over at the service line. The junior put pressure on the Panther defense who made a pair of mistakes for a 20-16 Titan lead. The advantage grew to set point on a hammer from Palmer to make it 24-18 but GU stormed back with eight straight to take the set, 26-24.

After a heartbreaking third set, the Green and White were fired up for the fourth. Tied at three, Palmer smoked a kill for the lead. With the Panther defense aware of Palmer, O'Brien flipped a set to Shannon who backdoored a kill to make it 8-6. IWU piled on with a 6-0 run, fueled by Feeney at the service line and assisting. Illinois Wesleyan kept the pressure on with a kill from the lefthanded Whitaker and one from Bardouniotis from Feeney. Lawton found herself in the middle of the offense with an incredible pancake dig to get Bardouniotis for a kill and then facilitated a pass to Palmer for a smash. Shannon used a shallow defense to push a tip for a point for a 23-17 score and a kill from Junis polished off another four set victory.

The wins marked the Green and White's third and fourth straight win in four sets and fifth and sixth this season.

The Titans head into College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play Wednesday, Sept. 23, with a trip to Van Male Fieldhouse for a clash with Carroll University. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.
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