Team celebrates around alex bardouniotis

Audrey Peterson

Women’s Volleyball Opens CCIW Play at Carroll

Titans move to No. 4 in latest AVCA Poll

9/22/2026 2:46:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin action has arrived for the fourth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team as it travels to Carroll College and Van Male Fieldhouse Wednesday, Sept. 22. First serve between the 11-1 Titans and the 8-5 Pioneers is set for 7 p.m.

After their win over No. 16 UW-Whitewater and a 3-0 weekend, the Titans moved up two spots to No. 4 in the week three American Volleyball Coaches Poll. Despite losing to No. 6 Juniata in five sets, UW-Oshkosh remained at No. 1 with 43 first-place votes. Colby stayed at second in the country while improving to 6-0. UW-Eau Claire and Trinity (Texas) sandwiched IWU at three and five with Trinity taking two first-place tallies.

The Green and White enters conference play on a four-game winning streak, with three of them coming at the IWU Tournament II. The Titans hold ranked wins over No. 17 Hope College, No. 24 Dubuque University and recently claimed its third in a four set match over UW-Whitewater. Over the span, the Illinois Wesleyan offense tallied 242 kills, and hit .266 with a kills per set of 15.13. The defense stayed steady with 250 digs for 15.63 per set. Titans have totaled 24 total blocks with nine solos.

Sophomore Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton) enjoyed a big weekend as the tournament MVP. On the season, Whitaker has struck 120 kills for a .306 percent, her 2.73 kills per set is second on the team behind junior Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North). Bardouniotis leads the offense with 161 kills and 3.43 kills per set. Her defense has impressed as well with seven double-doubles. She has accounted for 191.5 points for a 4.07 points per set.

Illinois Wesleyan has racked up the assists, sitting in the top-20 nationally in assists per set. In her last five matches, senior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) has accumulated 20 or more assists over the span. Her setting counterpart, sophomore Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic), tied a season high 24 assists in the win over Greenville. She was efficient at the service line with four assists and added six digs. The Titans are fifth across Division III with 571 sets and 20th in digs per set at 12.15.

Junior Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) continued her strong season over the weekend with 88 digs for a 5.50 digs per set. For the season, the libero sits third in the country in total digs with 270 and 13th in digs per set with 5.74. Junior Juliana Valdez (Palos Heights, Ill.-Marist) has been a nice addition in the middle, leading IWU in total blocks with 38 blocks including her eight solo stuffs.

In a series dominated by the Titans, IWU makes the trek to Van Male Fieldhouse for the seventh time since 1995. IWU holds an 11-1 lead over the Pios, dropping the lone match in Waukesha, Wis. in 2019. The two have never played a five set match against each other as the Titans have won the past three matches 3-1 and have swept CU six times. A season ago, IWU outlasted Carroll at the Shirk Center in late October. That time, IWU used a 3-1 win to clinch the CCIW regular season title, and Taylor French surpassed Tyler White as the program's all-time kill leader, notching her 1,777th kill. The dropped set to Carroll was one of two sets lost during conference play last season by the Titans.

The Titans and Pios will battle at 7 p.m. inside Van Male Fieldhouse. Live stats will be provided along with a live stream that will not have any broadcasters. Both links can be found on the women's volleyball page of iwusports.com.

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