In their fourth straight conference win, Illinois Wesleyan women’s volleyball was on fire, sweeping the Carthage College Firebirds in three sets on Wednesday. The Green and White are undefeated in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, 5-0 this season.
On Oct. 7, the CCIW released their women’s volleyball ‘Student-Athletes of the Week’ list. Every honor belonged to an Illinois Wesleyan player. Junior outside hitter Taylor French received hitter of the week, sophomore setter Sophia Feeney received setter, and junior libero Kannyn Boyd received the defensive player award. This announcement followed the Titans’ upset against No. 8 Millikin on Oct. 4, and the Green and White carried the success over into this week’s match.
The Titans won in three competitive sets, staying tight with the Firebirds throughout the match. The first set stayed close until a service and an attack error by Carthage allowed Illinois Wesleyan to secure a 10-7 lead. Senior hybrid Morgan Harrington and junior utility Hannah Tellor kept up a strong defense to maintain the lead, and several smart plays from French sealed the first set as a Titan victory.
The second set went similarly, with more Harrington-Tellor defense keeping Carthage on their toes. The score remained close until sophomore middle hitter Eleanor Palmer brought the Titans a kill to secure a 20-17 lead. Multiple scores by first-year outside hitter Alex Bardouniotis put the Green and White up two sets.
In the third set, French offered up three straight aces to help the Titans take the lead. Illinois Wesleyan maintained their lead for most of the set, but a Carthage comeback brought the score to a close 24-23. The Green and White secured a win courtesy of an assist by senior setter Abby Erdman to Harrington for the match point.
Consistent standout French led the team in kills, with 15, followed by sophomore hybrid Cailin Shannon with eight, and Tellor with seven. Defensive leaders Tellor and Harrington guarded the net, with three blocks for Tellor and two for Harrington. Feeney once again led the team with 18 assists, followed closely by Erdman with 16. The team led the match in nearly every statistic, except for a tie with Carthage for four blocks.
The Wednesday night match brought a crowd of over 250 to the Shirk Center for Mental Health Awareness Night, a night dedicated to bringing awareness to student athletes’ mental health and inviting more students out to the match.
The Titans are the only team in the conference still undefeated. Considering that the Green and White are 7-0 at home, the rest of the CCIW will have to step up if they want to prevent them from hosting the CCIW Championship at Dennis Bridges Court. Three contests remain in conference play for the Titans, the next against North Central at Gregory Arena on Oct. 16.