ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - Playing its sixth straight College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin match, the second-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team posted its third straight sweep with a win at Augustana College Friday night, Oct. 9. The Titans (16-1, 6-0 CCIW) took down the Vikings (5-10, 1-3 CCIW) 25-19, 25-15, and 25-17 for their eighth straight victory.
The junior trio of Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North), Graci Junis (Morton, Ill.-Morton), and Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) led the Titans in the road battle. Bardouniotis posted a 13-kill, 16-dig double-double, her 10th of the season. She led the team in kills, while Junis and Lawton tied for the team lead in digs with 17 apiece. Bardouniotis added in a team-high four aces.
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Senior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) and sophomore Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) tacked on 14 and 13 assists, respectively. O'Brien was credited with two aces, while both setters finished the night with five digs.
The Titans hit .122 as a team, with 31 kills on 115 swings. IWU posted a 7-6 edge in aces, but Augie mounted a 6-3 upperhand in blocks. The Vikings were stymied offensively, hitting -.008 with 22 kills on 127 attempts with 23 errors.
Illinois Wesleyan seized control from the first serve as Feeney kept Augustana off balanced, resulting in six straight Viking attack errors. Augie called a timeout and scored the next three points to trim IWU's lead in half, 6-3, in the opening set.
The Titans reclaimed a six-point cushion, 10-4, scoring their first 10 points without recording a kill or an ace. It was not until O'Brien aced the Vikings for a 12-7 lead that IWU scored an offensive point. Sophomore Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton) followed with a kill, IWU's first of the night, to push the lead back to six, 13-7.
The Green and White withstood runs by the Vikings to capture the set, 25-19, as back-to-back kills by Bardouniotis and Junis lifted the visitors to a 1-0 lead in the match.
Augustana grabbed its first lead of the day with an ace to start the second, but it did not last long. IWU rattled off 11 of the next 13 points to force an Augustana timeout as senior Eleanor Palmer (Chicago, Ill.-DePaul College Prep) put a ball away for an 11-3 advantage.
Augie miscues extended the lead to double digits and a Bardouniotis ace and Palmer kill brought about another Vikings timeout. The home team regrouped out of their final reset, chipping away at the Titan lead. Looking to end Augie's ensuing scoring run at five in a row, head coach Kim Nelson-Brown signaled for a timeout of her own. Illinois Wesleyan rebounded from there, taking advantage of Augustana errors alongside kills from Junis, Bardouniotis, and senior Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park). Two straight Bardouniotis aces closed the set, 25-15, putting the visitors on the cusp of their sixth conference win of the season.
Leading two sets to none, Illinois Wesleyan found itself in the tightest set of the evening in the third. Augie controlled things early, but IWU clawed back to tie the score several times. With the score level at 16-all, Whitaker put a set away from Feeney. O'Brien posted an ace and Bardouniotis delivered a hammer to give the Titans breathing room, 19-16.
The Vikings scored once out of a timeout, but Whitaker responded with a kill. A solo stuff by Palmer pushed the Green and White's lead to four, 21-17. Bardouniotis pinballed an ace off the Vikings and Whitaker beat a block to cue match point, 24-18. Junis elevated over the block and tallied a match-sealing kill to give the visitors the set, 25-18.
The Titans complete their string of six straight CCIW matches with a midweek matchup against North Park University Wednesday, Oct. 14, inside the Shirk Center. First serve for IWU's Dig Pink Night is scheduled for 6 p.m.
