BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - With Homecoming weekend underway, the No. 4 Illinois Wesleyan women's volleyball team kickstarted the festivities with a sweep of Millikin University behind set scores of 27-25, 25-13, and 25-20. Picking up their fourth sweep of the season, the Titans improve to 14-1 and 3-0 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, while the Big Blue falter to 9-10 and 0-2 in conference.
The IWU offense continued its success from the week, hitting .230 with 45 kills. The Green and White placed seven aces and led in assists with 41, compared to MU's 26. The defense played its part, allowing the Big Blue to have little offense, finishing with a hitting percentage of .102. The Titans tallied five blocks and made 48 digs.
Offensively for the Green and White, junior Juliana Valdez (Palos Heights, Ill.-Marist) exposed the Millikin defense with six kills, finishing with a .417 hitting percentage. Sophomore Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton) led the way at a .429 clip and seven kills. Junior Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) was the only Titan with double-figure kills with 11. Senior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) and sophomore Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) were neck and neck in assists with 21 and 19, respectively.
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Individually on the defensive side of the ball, junior Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) made a match-high 19 digs, nine more than the next closest. Senior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) was electric at the net, handing out one solo block for two total blocks.
Miscues stood in the way of the Titans in the first set as the Big Blue forced IWU to burn a timeout, trailing 10-7. Bardouniotis tipped an ace off the tape and junior Graci Junis (Morton, Ill.-Morton) added a kill to bring the Green and White within two, 13-11, but three straight MU points forced another reset behind 16-11. The Titans fell behind by their biggest margin at 19-12 while hitting just -.080 to MU's .366 clip.
All the momentum seemed to be with the visitors as they neared set point, 22-19, but a Big Blue service error sparked the Green and White. Bardouniotis tooled a block and Whitaker hit the Big Blue with an off-speed kill to the center of the court to knot the set 22-all. Illinois Wesleyan and Millikin traded points to keep a tie and force extra points, 24-24.
Whitaker came through with a big swing for a kill, but a failed challenge once again left the score knotted. Junis responded with a hammer of a swing, followed by a block from Valdez and senior Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park), which sealed the comeback, 27-25.
Illinois Wesleyan came back with a rowdy Shirk Center crowd behind them, jolting out to a 9-5 lead on a thundering solo rejection by Palmer. The block headlined a four-point run by the Titans that featured kills by Whitaker and Junis alongside a Bardouniotis ace. It was all IWU from there, as a monstrous swing from Junis and a Bardouniotis kill pushed the home team in front, 18-10.
Millikin called a timeout trailing by eight, but Illinois Wesleyan closed out the set 25-13 on O'Brien's fourth ace of the night.
The Big Blue battled back in the third, doubling up the Titans 6-3. Millikin maintained a three-point cushion into the midway point. The Titans went on a kill streak with four straight, two coming off the swing of Bardouniotis. Whitaker gave the Titans a 16-15 lead and back-to-back booms from Shannon made it 20-17. IWU staved off the Big Blue with Shannon, Valdez, Whitaker, and Bardouniotis connecting on kills to breeze past Millikin.
The Green and White continues CCIW play with two matches next week, beginning with Elmhurst University Wednesday, Oct. 7 at R.A. Faganal Hall. As Homecoming weekend rolls on at Illinois Wesleyan, make sure to check out iwusports.com to find all of Saturday's festivities.
