BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The top-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team took down Carthage College in straight sets Wednesday night, Oct. 21, to claim the program's third straight College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Regular Season Championship. IWU advances to 7-0 in CCIW play and 21-1 overall, with a chance to claim the league title outright next week. Carthage slides to 4-1 in CCIW action and 15-7 on the year.
With the conference title within reach and the top seed in next month's CCIW Tournament on the line, seniors Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) and Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) powered a strong Titans attack. Shannon hammered down 15 kills on a .560 clip alongside four digs, while Palmer put away 10 kills on 12 swings (.667 attacking percentage).
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The Titan attack, which also included nine kills from junior Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) and five from the trio of Graci Junis (Morton, Ill.-Morton), Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton) and Juliana Valdez (Palos Heights, Ill.-Marist), hit .336 on the night. Senior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) handed out 23 assists, with sophomore Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) tacking on 17.
Defensively, junior Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) was credited with 18 digs alongside six helpers. Bardouniotis joined her in double digits with 10 and Feeney followed with nine. Valdez paced the Green and White with two rejections.
With a strong student section packed inside the Shirk Center, the Titans came out swinging. Kills from Junis and Bardouniotis lifted IWU to an early lead before hammers from Whitaker stretched the lead to 10-3 and then 13-3.
Illinois Wesleyan only stretched its lead from that point forward, with a Junis ace, Shannon kill, and Bardouniotis point finishing off the Titans' most dominant set win of the year, 25-7.
The Firebirds held the upper hand early in set two, but the Green and White leveled the score at eight all with a huge swing from Junis. IWU grabbed a two-point cushion on a Bardouniotis kill off a set by Lawton, but Carthage scored two of the next three points to keep things tight. Valdez dialed up a dominant putaway and O'Brien followed with an ace as the Firebirds called a timeout with IWU in front, 17-14.
After a service error out of the timeout, the Titans rattled off a five-point run around CC's second and final timeout of the set to charge ahead, 24-17. Two kills gave Carthage life, but Shannon sealed the win with a set-clinching kill, 25-19.
Junis began the third with a tool off the block on the left side and Shannon followed up with a tool of her own from the right side to make it 2-0. Shannon added another as she flew up the middle for a kill for a 4-1 advantage. With the Titans on the verge of blowing open the third set, Valdez slipped to the outside and went cross-court to make it 16-8. Moments later, a relentless rally saw Junis cue up an O'Brien set that Palmer powered down for a 21-13 advantage. A kill from Shannon and a Carthage attack error cued match point, 24-17, but CC picked up back-to-back points to extend the match. Nevertheless, the Titans won out with an error to close the sweep, 25-19.
Illinois Wesleyan takes a week off before wrapping up CCIW play with a trip to North Central College Wednesday, Oct. 28. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Naperville, Ill.
