BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- The No. 15-ranked North Park Women's Volleyball team re-entered College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play on Wednesday evening inside Illinois Wesleyan University's Shirk Center. The Vikings fell in straight sets (25-17, 25-10, 25-21) as the Titans held NPU to its lowing hitting percentage of the season at .045
Everything was going in North Park's favor to open the match. The Vikings scored the first two points off a kill by senior middle blocker Rhianna Huebner and an ace by junior libero Carolina Aviles. The Vikings further extended their lead to 7-2 thanks to a kill by sophomore middle blocker Meg Rothermel and ace by senior outside hitter Adriana Rodriguez. However, the Titans would take six of the next seven points on kills and aces to tie things up, 8-8. An IWU attack error gave NPU the lead, but a North Park service error, kill by IWU's Cailin Shannon and ace by Hannah Tellor put the Titans up 11-9.
This time, North Park would tie things up on a kill by Huebner and ace by sophomore outside hitter Rian Hobbs. However, Illinois Wesleyan hit .321 with 15 kills in the set, taking 14 of the next 20 points en route to the opening set win.
Things only got worse for the Vikings in the second set, dropping that one 25-10. North Park was upside down with a -.049 hitting percentage while the Titans made zero errors, hitting .421 with 16 kills.
North Park showed fight in the third set, doubling their offensive output to 13 kills, including six from Rodriguez. However, the Titans would still pull away with the straight sets victory.
North Park was faced with the tall task of containing Illinois Wesleyan's two-time All-American, junior outside hitter Taylor French. French managed a double-double against this Vikings, driving 14 kills with 11 digs while hitting at a .324 clip.
Rodriguez finished the evening with eight kills, Aviles added 17 digs and Rothermel was in on a pair of blocks.
What's Next?
North Park (10-3, 1-1 CCIW) continues a run of competition against teams in the national conversation on Saturday, October 5. In a unique doubleheader, the Vikings host Carthage at 5:00 PM before a match with No. 23 U-Chicago at 7:00 PM inside Carlson Gym.
