NAPERVILLE, Ill. - The No. 1 Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team needed four sets to down North Central College Wednesday night, Oct. 28, at Gregory Arena. IWU (22-1) won with set scores of 25-17, 25-23, 19-25, and 25-13 to close out its third straight 8-0 run through the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin regular season and secure the league's title outright. North Central dipped to 9-9 overall (3-3 CCIW) with the setback.
Illinois Wesleyan used an attack that produced four hitters with nine-or-more kills. Juniors Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) and sophomore Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton) led the way with 10 kills apiece. Bardouniotis notched a double-double with 12 digs and added a team-high three aces, while Whitaker hit a team-leading .350 on the night. Senior Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) followed with nine kills and five digs. Junior Graci Junis (Morton, Ill.-Morton) posted a team-high 18 digs alongside nine kills, narrowly missing out on the double-double. She also tacked on a pair of aces.
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Senior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) picked up a 21-assist, 14-dig double-double. It was her third of the year. Sophomore Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) contributed 15 helpers with five digs.
Rounding out IWU's four double-digit digs performers, junior Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) was credited with 16. The Elmhurst, Ill., native also tallied two aces and eight assists. The net defense was led by Whitaker, Junis, senior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) and junior Juliana Valdez (Palos Heights, Ill.-Marist) as each of the four posted two blocks.
Overall, the Titans hit .159 for the match with 48 kills to NCC's 39. IWU limited the Cardinals to a .086 clip on the night, while also racking up leads in assists (46-38) and digs (76-73). Each team finished with eight aces and six blocks.
Kills by Junis and Valdez got the Titans started off on the right foot and a string of three kills from Bardouniotis pushed the Green and White ahead, 5-1. NCC battled back, knotting the score at six, but back-to-back putaways from Palmer reclaimed an 8-6 advantage.
IWU used aces by Bardouniotis and sophomore Shelby Sennett (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) along with kills from Whitaker and Shannon to take control, 14-8. The Cardinals clawed back, but a Palmer-Junis block forced an NCC timeout with Illinois Wesleyan ahead, 15-11. The pause did little to slow the Green and White as Junis combined with Valdez for a rejection before serving up an ace. Shannon slammed down a kill off a Feeney helper. North Central called its second and final timeout after a miscue, but Bardouniotis' kill out of the reset stretched the lead to six, 21-15.
Illinois Wesleyan closed out the set victory with a big swing from Palmer and an NCC error to grab a 1-0 lead in the match.
The second set was far tighter, as the Titans and Cardinals played through a series of ties. Illinois Wesleyan used a four-point run powered by Shannon and Bardouniotis kills as well as an NCC error and Lawton ace to jolt ahead, 14-10, midway through. North Central came right back, taking the next four points. A kill from Bardouniotis put the visitors back in front at the media timeout, but the home team took three of the next four points to claim a 17-16 edge.
The lead did not last long as the two teams played to ties at 17, 18, 19, and 23. IWU nabbed a four-point lead, 23-19, on a Junis kill after consecutive North Central errors, but the Cardinals had another comeback attempt in them. Aided by IWU miscues, NCC tied the score at 23-all into Illinois Wesleyan's second timeout. The regrouping session proved timely as Junis came out with a kill and a strong serve led to a Cardinals attacking error to close a 25-23 triumph.
The Green and White put themselves in a 7-0 deficit to begin the third, and despite a few late runs, fell, 25-19. It was the first set that saw NCC outhit IWU, as the home team connected on a .196 clip to the Titans' .063 mark.
Illinois Wesleyan responded in a big way in the fourth, putting its foot on the gas and never letting up. The Titans won seven of nine points to take control and never looked back. A kill by Junis and two by Shannon aided the run as IWU took a 10-4 lead. The Green and White used a series of big runs to pull away with the set, 25-13, with Shannon closing the match with a ninth kill of the night. IWU hit .244 for the set, while limiting NCC to .000 with six kills and six errors.
