Illinois Wesleyan 2005 Volleyball Stories

Contact: Stew Salowitz (309) 556-3206

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Illinois Wesleyan 2005 Preseason Fact Book (pdf)

January 20
For the second straight season, Molly May has been named “Most Valuable Player” for the Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team. A 6-foot-1 middle hitter, May was a first team all-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin selection. She finished her career as IWU’s all-time leader with 600 blocks and is ninth with 1,108 career kills. She also holds the school’s season record with 222 blocks in 2004. In other team honors, Jenna Passananti earned the “Titan Volleyball Strength Award”, Natalie Quinton was the winner of the team's "Most Inspirational Player" honor and sophomore Paige Azuma was the winner of the squad’s “Most Improved Player” honor. The Titans were 14-17 overall and 3-4 in the CCIW last fall.

November 7
Illinois Wesleyan senior Molly May (pictured) has been named to the first team while sophomore Jenna Passananti (second team) and junior Nicole Walsh (third team) also were chosen to the all-league volleyball teams in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin in voting done by league coaches. A 6-foot-1 outside hitter, May was No. 7 in the CCIW with 0.96 blocks per game, eighth with a .281 hitting percentage and 11th with 2.72 kills per game. Passananti, a setter, was second in the CCIW in set assists with 10.96 per game. Walsh, a 5-foot-11 middle hitter, was seventh in the league with 2.95 kills per game. The Titans finished 14-17 overall and were 3-4 and finished tied for fourth in the regular season phase of the CCIW this fall.

November 1
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball season ended with a three-game loss at Elmhurst in the first round of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournament on Tues., Nov. 1. The No. 6-seeded Titans lost to the No. 3-seeded Bluejays by scores of 24-30, 27-30, 19-30. Nicole Walsh led IWU with 12 kills while senior Molly May had 11 and junior Melissa Serritella added seven. Current CCIW "Player of the Week" Jenna Passananti had 31 set assists and made 14 digs while Ashley Reed also made 13 defensive digs. The Titans' season ends with a 14-17 overall record while the No. 18-nationally ranked Bluejays advance with a record of 29-9.

November 1
Illinois Wesleyan sophomore Jenna Passananti was chosen as one of two "Players of the Week" in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin for her efforts in the Titans winning three of four in their own weekend tourney. Passananti averaged 12.14 assists and 3.07 defensive digs in 14 games. She had 46 assists and 15 digs in a three-game win over Illinois College and had 42 assists along with six kills in a three-game win over Maranatha Baptist. The No. 6-seed Titans play at No. 3 Elmhurst at 7 p.m. Tues., Nov. 1 in the first round of the CCIW tournament.

October 28-29
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team went 3-1 over the weekend of Oct. 28-29 in the Titan Tournament at the Shirk Center. The Titans won three-game matches on Oct. 29 against Maranatha Baptist (30-23, 30-23, 30-19) and Illinois College (30-28, 30-12, 30-27) to improve to 14-16 overall ahead of Tuesday's conference tourney game at Elmhurst. Nicole Walsh had 15 kills vs. Illinois College and 12 against Maranatha to lead IWU. Jenna Passananti had 88 set assists and 23 digs in the two Saturday matches and Ashley Reed made 37 defensive digs in the two victories.
IWU split two matches on the first day of the Titan Tournament (Fri., Oct. 28) as the Titans beat Monmouth (25-30, 30-22, 30-16, 30-32, 15-7) and lost to No. 1-ranked Washington U. (17-30, 21-30, 28-30). Michele Malinowski had 18 kills against Monmouth while Sarah Vegter and Walsh each had 13. Melissa Serritella had a team-best nine kills vs. Washington U. and Natalie Quinton added eight with 13 digs.

October 26
Illinois Wesleyan will meet the No. 1 Division III team in the country, Washington U. (25-0), in the Titan Tournament this Friday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Shirk Center. IWU (11-15) opens the tourney against Monmouth at 3 p.m. Oct. 28 then plays Maranatha Baptist (10 a.m.) and Illinois College (2 p.m.) on Sat., Oct. 29. The Titans are the No. 6 seed in next week’s College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournament and will play at No. 3 Elmhurst at 7 p.m. Tues., Nov. 1 with a chance to advance to the tourney semifinal Nov. 4.

October 22
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team split two matches at the Wisconsin-Stout Tournament in Menomonie, Wis., on Sat., Oct. 22 and finished 2-2 in the weekend event. IWU is 11-15 overall after a win over UW-Superior (25-30, 30-28, 30-25, 30-25) and a loss to UW-Stevens Point (28-30, 30-24, 30-28, 26-30, 13-15). Against Superior, Michele Malinowski had 14 kills and Melissa Serritella had 15 while Molly May, who was chosen to the all-tournament team, had 13 and Nicole Walsh had 10. Malinowski had 21 kills against UW-SP while Walsh had 18 and Serritella had 14. In the two Saturday games, Jenna Passananti had 107 set assists and 40 digs. The Titans host their own six-team tournament next weekend.

October 21
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team split a pair of games at the Wisconsin-Stout Tournament in Menomonie, Wis., on Fri., Oct. 21. The Titans are 10-14 overall after a loss to UW-Eau Claire (30-20, 30-25, 30-27) and a win over the host school (30-26, 30-27, 36-34). Leading the Titans vs. UW-EC were Michele Malinowski with seven kills, Jenna Passananti with 19 assists, Sarah Vegter with four aces, Molly May with four blocks and Ashley Reed with 15 digs. Against Stout, Melissa Serritella slammed 18 kills, Malinowski had 14 kills, Passananti made 48 assists, Walsh had six blocks and Reed made 18 digs. IWU continues play in the tourney on Oct. 22 with matches against UW-Superior and UW-Stevens Point.

October 15
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team improved to 9-13 overall and 3-4 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with a three-game win (30-22, 30-24, 30-18) over North Park on Sat., Oct. 15 at the Shirk Center. On her "Senior Day," Molly May had 11 kills with five blocks and junior Sarah Vegter also made 11 kills and 10 digs. Junior Nicole Walsh and freshman Michelle Malinowski each had 10 kills, sophomore Jenna Passananti handed out 41 set assists and sophomore Ashley Reed made 32 defensive digs.

October 11
Senior Molly May will be honored in the annual "Senior Day" game on Sat., Oct. 15 when the Titans host North Park at noon. May, the 2004 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin "Player of the Year" and an honorable mention All-American, is second all-time at IWU with 578 blocks and is No. 9 with 1,054 kills. In volleyball action on Tues., Oct. 11, the Titans lost to No. 9-ranked Elmhurst in three games, 29-31, 22-30, 16-30. IWU is 8-13 overall and 2-4 in the CCIW.

October 7
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team slipped to 8-12 overall and 2-3 in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play after a 27-30, 25-30, 25-30 loss at Carthage on Fri., Oct. 7 in Kenosha, Wis. Juniors Melissa Serritella and Nicole Walsh led the Titans with 11 kills while Ashley Reed had 21 defensive digs and Jenna Passananti had 34 set assists. Carthage is 16-1, 5-0 CCIW and 28th in the most recent national Division III poll.

October 4
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team fell to 8-11 overall and 2-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with a loss at Millikin on Tues., Oct. 4, by scores of 25-30, 12-30, 22-30. The Titans were led in kills by junior Nicole Walsh with nine while senior Molly May and junior Melissa Serritella added five each. Sophomore Jenna Passananti had 21 assists for IWU and Jaclyn Verticchio had a team-best nine digs.

September 30-October 1
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team split a pair of road games over the weekend of Sept. 30-Oct. 1, improving to 2-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with a win over North Central on Fri., Sept. 30 in Naperville, before losing a non-league game at Lake Forest on Sat., Oct. 1.
The Titans beat North Central, 30-28, 30-26, 30-25, as junior Nicole Walsh had 12 kills and six blocks to lead the Titans past the Cardinals (6-10 overall, 0-3 CCIW). Michele Malinowski, Melissa Serritella, and Molly May each added eight kills, Jenna Passananti contributed 40 assists and 13 digs and Ashley Reed had 11 digs for IWU.
IWU's overall record is 8-10 after losing, 28-30, 20-30, 23-30, to the Foresters (13-6). May had 14 kills, Serritella had seven and Walsh had six. Passananti had 31 assists and nine digs, Jaclyn Verticchio had a team-high 10 digs and Natalie Quinton had nine digs.

September 27
Freshman Michele Malinowski  had 17 kills, including several key kills in the fifth game, to lead the Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team to a five-game win over Wheaton on Tues., Sept. 27. The Titans improved to 7-9 overall and 1-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with the 26-30, 31-29, 26-30, 30-28, 15-12 victory. Melissa Serritella had 14 kills, while Molly May and Nicole Walsh each had 10. Jenna Passananti paced IWU with 23 digs and had 56 set assists and Jaclyn Verticchio had 19 defensive digs. Wheaton is 9-10, 0-2 CCIW.

September 23-24
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team fell to 6-9 on the season as it lost four matches at the Wisconsin-Whitewater Invitational on Sept. 23-24.
On Fri., Sept. 23, the Titans lost to North Central (30-20, 30-20, 24-30, 17-30, 15-9) and the host Warhawks (30-23, 30-21, 30-18), who are ranked No. 10 in NCAA Division III. Against North Central, Nicole Walsh led the way with 13 kills, Natalie Quinton had 12 and Melissa Serritella and Michele Malinowski each added 11 for the Titans. Jenna Passananti made 47 assists and 16 digs and Molly May had seven blocks. May had a team-high seven kills against Whitewater. Jaclyn Verticchio had 16 digs, Walsh blocked four spikes and Passananti made 22 assists.
On Sat., Sept. 24, IWU lost to Illinois Institute of Technology (30-27, 30-17, 30-24) and to No. 22-ranked Wisconsin-Oshkosh (30-21, 29-31, 30-27, 30-17). Against IIT, Nicole Walsh led the way with seven kills and Paige Azuma had five. Jenna Passananti made 23 assists and 15 digs. Crystal Dye had a team-high 10 kills with 19 digs against Oshkosh. Passananti had 39 assists and Ashley Reed had 21 digs.

September 20
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team slipped to 6-5 overall and 0-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin as it dropped a five-game decision to Augustana on Tues., Sept. 20 at the Shirk Center. The Titans won the first two games, 30-23, 30-28, before dropping the next three, 32-34, 28-30, 13-15. The Titans hit .207 as a team as Molly May had 19 kills and Natalie Quinton added 12 kills with 21 digs. Jenna Passananti had 56 set assists and libero Jaclyn Verticchio had 31 digs. IWU’s next action is in the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater tournament this weekend.

September 13
Illinois Wesleyan improved to 6-4 overall with a four-game victory over Benedictine on Tues., Sept. 13, by scores of 30-24, 30-25, 27-30, 30-26 victory. Junior Nicole Walsh led four players with double-digit kills with 11. Junior Melissa Serritella, senior Molly May and junior Natalie Quinton each had 10. Sophomore setter Jenna Passananti handed out 51 set assists and junior Crystal Dye led the defense with three blocks.

September 13
Illinois Wesleyan senior middle hitter Molly May has been named “Offensive Player of the Week” in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. May had 3.56 kills and .94 blocks per game as the Titans were 3-2 last week. She had 14 kills and six blocks in a three-set win over No. 20-ranked Wisconsin-River Falls in the IWU Fall Classic last Friday. May, who was the league's "Player of the Year" in 2004, had 12 kills each against Millikin and Eureka and finished the week with a .369 hitting percentage. Elmhurst's Lindsay Johnson was the CCIW "Defensive Player/Setter of the Week."

September 10
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team finished the weekend 2-2 in the IWU Fall Classic at the Shirk Center. On Sat., Sept. 10, the Titans breezed past Maryville (Mo.), 30-16, 31-29, 30-25, and lost to Millikin, 30-24, 30-26, 30-24. Nicole Walsh had 14 kills, Molly May had eight and Crystal Dye had five kills and six digs in the win over Maryville. Against Millikin, May had 12 kills, Dye had 10 kills and nine digs and Jenna Passananti had 31 assists and 15 digs. The Titans are 5-4 overall.

September 9
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team knocked off No. 20-ranked Wisconsin-River Falls in three games to finish 1-1 after day one of the IWU Fall Classic at the Shirk Center on Fri., Sept. 9. The Titans (4-3) got 14 kills from Molly May and 12 from Melissa Serritella in winning, 38-36, 30-27, 32-30. Earlier in the day, IWU lost to Capital, 28-30, 30-22, 25-30, 24-30 as Nicole Walsh had 18 kills, Crystal Dye and Michele Malinowski had 13 and May had 11. Jenna Passananti had 99 assists and 38 digs in the two matches.

September 6
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team improved to 3-2 with a win over Eureka on Tues., Sept. 6 at the Shirk Center. The scores were 30-23, 30-18, 30-22. Setter Jenna Passananti had 33 assists and a team-best five service aces. Molly May had 12 kills, Nicole Walsh chipped in nine kills and eight blocks and Melissa Serritella added eight kills. Jaclyn Verticchio (20 digs) and Ashley Reed (15 digs) led the Titans on defense.

September 3
Junior Melissa Serritella and senior Molly May each slammed 10 kills to lift the Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team to a 27-30, 30-18, 30-20, 30-16 victory over Dominican at the Washington U. Tournament at St. Louis on Sat., Sept. 3. In the next match, the Titans fell 30-23, 31-33, 32-30, 30-20 to the host Bears, the No. 1 team in Division III, to finish the tourney with a 2-2 mark. Sarah Vegter served five aces, Jenna Passananti made 42 assists, Serritella chipped in five blocks and Jaclyn Verticchio dug up 15 saves for the Titans in their win. Against Washington U., Serritella (14 kills), May (12), Nicole Walsh (10) and Passananti (52 assists) powered the IWU offense. May and Walsh each had five blocks, Verticchio made 15 digs and Passananti had 14 digs.

September 2
Illinois Wesleyan split a pair of volleyball matches at the season-opening Washington U. Tournament in St. Louis on Fri., Sept. 2. The Titans were defeated by Whitworth (of Spokane, Wash.), 30-9, 30-25 and 30-22, before rallying to defeat Rhodes, 34-32, 30-20, 27-30, 31-29. In the win over Rhodes, senior Molly May had 11 kills and eight blocks while Crystal Dye had eight kills and Sarah Vegter had seven. The Titans had 88 digs, led by the 27 from junior libero Jaclyn Verticchio. The tournament concludes on Sat., Sept. 3.

August 11
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team was chosen for third in the annual preseason coaches poll in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. The Titans received 35 points, behind defending co-champions Elmhurst (47 points, five first place votes) and Carthage (44 points, three first place votes). The CCIW has done away with the point system for 2005 and will determine a league champion through the regular season standings. Led by CCIW “Player of the Year” Molly May, IWU was 22-15 in 2004 (5-2 CCIW) and opens its 2005 campaign on Fri., Sept. 2 in the two-day Washington U. tournament in St. Louis. The Titans will play Whitworth at 3 p.m. and Rhodes at 5:15 p.m. On Sat., Sept. 3 IWU will meet Dominican at 12:15 p.m. and face the host school at 2:30 p.m. In addition to May, the Titans return two other all-conference players: junior Nicole Walsh and sophomore Jenna Passananti. IWU plays at home on Sept. 6 against Eureka.