BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - As the regular season passes the midpoint, the second-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team continues College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play against Augustana College Friday, Oct. 9, in Rock Island. The Titans (15-1, 4-0 CCIW) and Vikings (5-9, 1-2 CCIW) will battle at 7 p.m. inside Roy J. Carver Center.
After sweeping Elmhurst University to begin the week, the Green and White take a 3-0 road CCIW stamp, and high-powered attack, to a struggling Augie squad. Senior Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) enjoyed a big night, hitting .529 on 10 kills. On the season, the co-captain sits fourth on the team with 1.98 kills per set and 117 kills. Shannon is a part of an offense that sits second in the country in kills per set with 13.76. Leading in the department is junior outside hitter Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) with 3.49 kills per set. Bardouniotis collected her 15th double-digit kills match against the Bluejays with 12 in three sets.
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Also ranking in the top-10 nationally, senior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) and sophomore Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) have orchestrated an assist per set number of 12.38 to rank ninth. Individually, Feeney has dished out 5.70 assists per set and 348 total. O'Brien, in 53 sets, has contributed 251 assists at a clip of 4.74. Junior Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) has helped out from the libero position with 78 assists.
Lawton continues to rank inside the top-15 nationally and is first in the CCIW with 5.51 digs per set. IWU holds two other spots inside the top-10 in the league as Bardouniotis (3.02) and junior Graci Junis (Morton, Ill.-Morton) (2.98). The Green and White are the only team in the CCIW with three student-athletes in the category. Additionally, the Titans lead the league in digs per set at 16.94. The net presence from the Titans has predominantly been senior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) and junior Juliana Valdez (Palos Heights, Ill.-Marist). The two lead the rejection category with 48 and 49, respectively.
Against Augie, Illinois Wesleyan holds a 10 win advantage at 29-19 since 1994 and are currently on a four-match winning streak. Over the past 10 years, the Green and White are 9-1 against the Vikings with the lone loss coming in 2022 in Rock Island. Visiting Rock Island for the first time since 2024, IWU is 9-8 on the road, victorious in four of the last five matchups at Roy J. Carver Center. A season ago, the Green and White needed just 70 minutes to sweep the Vikings with dominating set scores of 25-13, 25-10, and 25-15. The win, coming in the last match of the regular season, posted IWU's second straight undefeated CCIW slate. Bardouniotis and Shannon led the way, among the returners, with 12 and seven kills, respectively. Feeney and O'Brien made their mark on the match combining for 40 assists, 20 each.
The Titans and Vikings will open the weekend at 7 p.m. inside the Roy J. Carver Center Friday, Oct. 9. The match will be streamed on cciwnetwork.com with live stats available here.
