Illinois Wesleyan 2006 Volleyball Stories

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Illinois Wesleyan 2006 Preseason information (pdf)

January 10
Junior setter Jenna Passananti has been chosen as the “Most Valuable Player” for the 2006 Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team. Passananti led the 24-12 Titans with a school-record 1,592 set assists and with 51 service aces. After three seasons in IWU volleyball history, she is second in career assists with 4,244, fourth in digs (1,199), 12th in service aces (144) and 21st in blocks (149). A first team all-Midwest Region and all-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin selection, Passananti was only the fourth IWU volleyball player ever to earn All-American honors as she was named to the third team of the Division III squads chosen by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
In other team honors, senior libero Jaclyn Verticchio was the winner of the team's "Most Inspirational Player" honor and senior outside hitter Natalie Quinton earned the “Titan Volleyball Strength Award.” Verticchio, an honorable mention all-CCIW selection, set the school’s single season record with 665 defensive digs in 2006 and became IWU’s all-time leader in digs with 1,860. Quinton was fifth on the team with 2.30 kills per game and third with 3.43 digs per game. She ended her career ranked No. 16 at the school with 941 digs.
Freshman setter Patrice O’Neill was the winner of the squad’s “Most Improved Player” honor.
Passananti and junior Ashley Reed were chosen to serve as co-captains for the 2007 team with another captain to be added prior to the season.

November 10
Illinois Wesleyan junior setter Jenna Passananti has become only the fourth IWU volleyball player ever to earn All-American honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association. Passananti was selected to the 12-player third team of the Division III squads chosen by AVCA coaches. Only Tiffany Hamblin (third team, 2002), Beth Crowley (honorable mention, 2003) and Molly May (honorable mention, 2004) have previously been selected from Illinois Wesleyan. Passananti led the 24-12 Titans with a school-record 1,592 set assists and with 51 service aces. Earlier this week she was chosen to the 12-player Division III all-Midwest Region team and to the first team of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin all-star squads. After three seasons in IWU records, Passananti is second in career assists with 4,244, fourth with 1,199 digs, 12th with 144 service aces and 21st with 149 blocks.

November 9
Illinois Wesleyan junior Jenna Passananti has been named to the 12-player Division III all-Midwest Region team chosen by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. A setter from Western Springs (LaGrange Lyons HS), Passananti led the 24-12 Titans with a school-record 1,592 set assists and with 51 service aces. Earlier this week she was chosen to the first team of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin all-star squads. After three seasons in IWU records, Passananti is second in career assists with 4,244, third with 1,199 digs, 12th with 144 service aces and 21st with 149 blocks. Senior middle hitter Melissa Serritella (St. Charles, North HS) earned honorable mention on the all-region team. She led the Titans with 143 blocks and 388 kills in 2006 and was a second team all-conference choice.

November 6
Four Illinois Wesleyan volleyball players have been chosen to the all-league teams in the  College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. Jenna Passananti was a first team selection, Melissa Serritella and Katie Butson were on the second team and Jaclyn Verticchio earned honorable mention. Butson was also chosen as the league's "Newcomer of the Year." IWU did not get a bid to the NCAA Division III tournament and finished the season with a 24-12 overall record and a 5-2 CCIW mark, good for second place. Verticchio and Passananti were also named to the CCIW all-tournament team where IWU placed second Nov. 3-4.

November 4
Illinois Wesleyan finished second in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournament as No. 9-ranked Carthage topped the Titans, 30-20, 30-27, 31-29 on Sat., Nov. 4 in Kenosha, Wis. The Lady Reds (29-4) earn the CCIW’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division IIIvolleyball championship while No. 26-ranked IWU (24-12) would need to receive an at-large bid. Michelle Malinowski led IWU with 11 kills while Amy VanDerVoorn had 10. Named to the CCIW all-tournament team were senior libero Jaclyn Verticchio (who had 29 digs vs. Carthage) and junior setter Jenna Passananti (who provided 34 assists).

October 31
Illinois Wesleyan improved to 23-11 and advanced to the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin semifinal round with a three-game win over Augustana on Tues., Oct. 31 at the Shirk Center. The No. 2-seed Titans won, 30-17, 30-26, 30-16, and will face No. 6-seed Wheaton at 4:30 p.m. on Fri., Nov. 3 in Kenosha, Wis. Wheaton topped No. 3 Elmhurst, 30-25, 30-21, 30-26/ In the other semifinal on Nov. 3, Carthage will meet Millikin at 7 p.m. and the tournament championship will be held on Sat., Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. No. 5 seed Millikin won at North Central, 30-24, 28-30, 31-29, 30-21, and No. 1 Carthage handled North Park, 30-17, 30-13, 30-13.

October 28
Illinois Wesleyan won three of four matches in the Titan tournament, held Oct. 27-28 at the Shirk Center.  In Saturday's play, IWU defeated No. 6-ranked Carthage, 30-18, 30-25, 30-13, then handled Wis.-Stout, 32-30, 30-22, 30-24 and improved their overall record to 22-11.  Freshmen Katie Butson had 17 kills vs. Carthage and 14 more vs. Wis.-Stout while Melissa Serritella had 11 kills in each match.  Against the Lady Reds and the Blue Devils respetively, Jenna Passananti had 48 and 39 assists while Jaclyn Verticchio had 17 and 19 digs.  The Titans host Augustana at 7 p.m. Tues. Oct. 31 in the play-in game for the College Conference of illinois and Wisconsin tournament and anyone bringing canned goods donation for Clare House will be admiited to Tuesday's match free of charge.
 
October 27
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team was 1-1 after the first day of the Titan Tournament on Fri., Oct. 27 at the Shirk Center. IWU defeated Monmouth, 30-22, 30-27, 30-17, before losing to No. 2-ranked Washington University, 30-28, 26-30, 25-30, 26-30. Against Monmouth, Melissa Serritella had 13 kills and Natalie Quinton had 10. Katie Butson had 23 kills vs. Washington U. while Serritella and Michele Malinowski each had 11 and Sarah Vegter had 10. IWu plays No. 6-ranked Carthage (10 a.m.) and Wis.-Stout (2 p.m.) on Sat., Oct. 28.

October 24
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team boosted their overall record to 19-10 and their final College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark to 5-2 with a four-game win over North Central on Tues., Oct. 24 at the Shirk Center. The Titans won by scores of 30-24, 30-27, 32-34, 30-20 on "Seniors' Night." One of those seniors, Melissa Serritella was named co-winner of the “Volleyball Player of the Week” honor in the CCIW on Oct. 24. Serritella averaged 3.28 kills and 1.06 blocks in 18 games and had a .276 hitting percentage as she helped IWU win four of five matches last week. IWU hosts a five team tournament on Oct. 27-28.

October 20-21
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team won three of four matches at the Emory National Invitational Tournament on Oct. 20-21 in Atlanta, Ga. On Sat., the Titans easily handled Vassar (N.Y.), 30-22, 30-18, 30-21, and Ripon (Wis.), 30-23, 30-17, 30-17. Against Vassar, Natalie Quinton had nine kills and Melissa Serritella and Sarah Vegter each had seven as IWU had a .337 hitting percentage. Serritella had 10 kills and Lisa Cercello had nine in the win over Ripon. Jenna Passananti had 84 assists in the two matches while Jaclyn Verticchio had 29 defensive digs.
In games on Fri., IWU topped Muskingum (Ohio), 22-30, 30-19, 30-28, 30-26, before losing to the host school, the No. 14 ranked Emory Eagles, 18-30, 21-30, 30-27, 23-30. Against Muskingum, Melissa Serritella had 19 kills and Katie Butson had 16. Jenna Passananti had 51 assists and junior Ashley Reed contributed a team-high 34 digs. In the Emory match, Michele Malinowski had a team-high nine kills while Passananti had 41 assists and Jaclyn Verticchio had 24 digs and Reed had 19. IWU's next game is at 7 p.m. Tues., Oct. 24 against North Central and it is "Seniors' Night" honoring the six seniors.

October 17
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team topped Augustana in four games on Tues., Oct. 17 in Rock Island. The game scores were 30-23, 30-26, 22-30, 30-28 as IWU improved to 15-9 overall and 4-2 in the league. For the second time this fall, Jenna Passananti has been chosen "Player of the Week" in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. She had 41 assists, 14 digs and five kills in a three-game CCIW win at Wheaton on Oct. 10. She was then named to the all-tournament team at the IWU Fall Invitational as she averaged 11.11 assists and 2.39 digs in 18 games as the Titans lost to four nationally-ranked teams. Passananti had 62 assists and 15 digs in a five-game loss to No. 3 LaVerne.

October 14
For the second straight day, the Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team lost to two nationally-ranked teams in the IWU Titan Invitational on Sat., Oct. 14 at the Shirk Center. The Titans lost to No. 24 Mt. St. Joseph, 23-30, 30-22, 22-30, 30-23, 14-16, before falling to No. 1 Juniata, 30-27, 26-30, 19-30, 10-30. Against Mt. St. Joseph, Katie Butson had 19 kills and Melissa Serritella had 15 kills and five blocks. Jenna Passananti had 57 assists and Jaclyn Verticchio had 29 digs. Butson had 11 kills, Serritella had nine and Lisa Cercello and Sarah Vegter each had eight vs. Juniata. Passananti had 36 assists and Verticchio had 19 digs. IWU (now 14-9 overall) resumes conference play on Tues., Oct. 17 at Augustana.

October 13
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team lost to two nationally-ranked teams in the IWU Titan Invitational on Fri., Oct. 13 at the Shirk Center. IWU fell to No. 29 Wis.-Platteville, 30-16, 21-30, 26-30, 24-30, and then lost in five games to No. 3 LaVerne, 19-30, 30-28, 20-30, 30-26, 13-15. Freshman Katie Butson led IWU with 17 kills against LaVerne while Melissa Serritella had 13 with six blocks and Lisa Cercello added 11 kills. Serritella had 11 kills and Natalie Quinton had 10 against Platteville. Jenna Passananti had 107 assists and Jaclyn Verticchio had 43 digs in the two matches. The Titans face No. 1 Juniata and No. 24 Mt. St. Joseph on Sat., Oct. 14.

October 10
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team downed Wheaton in three games by scores of 30-27, 30-26, 30-28, in Wheaton on Tues., Oct. 10. Senior Sarah Vegter had a team-high 12 kills while Melissa Serritella had 11 kills. Jenna Passananti had 41 assists and Jaclyn Verticchio had 19 digs. IWU improved to 14-5 overall and 3-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. The Titans host a tournament on Oct. 13-14 that brings four nationally-ranked teams to the Shirk Center: No. 1 Juniata, No. 3 LaVerne, No. 24 Mt. St. Joseph and No. 29 Wis.-Platteville.

October 5
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team improved to 13-5 overall with a 30-23, 30-15, 30-15 nonconference win over Eureka on Thurs., Oct. 5 in Eureka. The Titans got nine kills from Melissa Serritella and eight each from Michele Malinowski and freshman Amy VanDerVoorn. Serritella, VanDerVoorn and Passananti all had three blocks while Passananti had 36 set assists and Jacyln Verticchio had a team-high 18 digs. The Titans' next game is at Wheaton on Tues., Oct. 10.

October 4
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team improved to 12-5 overall and 2-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with a 30-24, 30-24, 30-23 win over Millikin on Tues., Oct. 3 at the Shirk Center. IWU senior libero Jaclyn Verticchio was named co-"Player of the Week" in the CCIW as she averaged 6.79 digs per game in 19 games as IWU played five matches, including three against opponents ranked in the top 16. Verticchio had 37 digs in a four-game win over Wis.-LaCrosse and had 26 in five games vs. #14 Carthage, and 25 in four games against both #8 Wis.-Oshkosh and #16 Wis.-Whitewater. She also averaged a team-high .42 service aces per game for the week that saw IWU lose in five to Carthage and go 2-2 at the Wis.-Whitewater tournament.

September 30
Illinois Wesleyan finished 2-2 at the Wisconsin-Whitewater tournament on Sept. 29-30. On Sat., IWU defeated Wis.-LaCrosse, 26-30, 30-20, 30-27, 30-28, before losing to No. 8-ranked Wis.-Oshkosh, 30-21, 26-30, 24-30, 32-34. Melissa Serritella had 18 kills and 10 blocks and Jaclyn Verticchio had 37 digs vs. UW-LaCrosse while Lisa Cercello and Michelle Malinowski each had 15 kills vs. UW-Oshkosh. Jenna Passananti averaged 50.5 assists in the two matches. The Titans (11-5 overall) look to improve on their 1-2 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark when they host Millikin on Tues., Oct. 3 at 7 p.m.

September 29
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team split a pair of matches at the Wisconsin-Whitewater tournament on Fri., Sept. 29. The Titans defeated Gallaudet, 30-21, 30-19, 30-23, before losing to the host school, 30-25, 30-23, 30-24. Against Gallaudet, Sarah Vegter and Katie Butson each had 12 kills as the Titans posted a .316 hitting percentage while Jenna Passananti had 49 assists. In the UW-Whitewater match, Melissa Serritella and Natalie Quinton both had 11 kills and Passananti recorded 34 assists. The Titans will continue tournament play at 9 a.m. Sat., Sept. 30, vs. UW-LaCrosse and at 1 p.m. vs. UW-Oshkosh.

September 26
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team took No. 14 Carthage into five games before losing at the Shirk Center on Tues., Sept. 26. IWU fell to 9-3 overall and 1-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin in the 22-30, 30-17, 30-20, 26-30, 15-17 setback. Sarah Vegter had a team-high 19 kills while Katie Butson had 16 and Natalie Quinton added 11. CCIW “Player of the Week” Jenna Passananti had 57 assists, 16 digs and six kills and Jaclyn Verticchio led the defensive effort with a team-high 26 digs. The Titans play in the UW-Whitewater Tournament on Sept. 29-30.

September 23
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team took a three-game match from North Park, 30-17, 30-17, 30-19, in Chicago on Sat., Sept. 23. The win improves the IWU overall record to 9-2 and evens the Titans' College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark at 1-1. Freshman Katie Butson led IWU with 16 kills while Sarah Vegter had 12 kills and 10 defensive digs. Jenna Passananti had 46 set assists and a team-high 11 digs. IWU continues CCIW play on Tues., Sept. 26 when they host Carthage at 7:30 p.m. in the Shirk Center.

September 22
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team lost its College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin opener at Elmhurst on Fri., Sept. 22. The Bluejays took the Titans, 30-27, 30-32, 29-31, 30-28, 15-12, in a marathon 2 ½ hour match. Senior Melissa Serritella led IWU with 20 kills while Sarah Vegter chipped in 18, freshman Katie Butson 16, freshman Amy VanDerVoorn had 13 and senior Natalie Quinton 13. Junior Jenna Passananti had 65 assists while senior Jaclyn Verticchio had 28 digs. IWU is 8-2 overall while Elmhurst improved to 7-8, 2-0 CCIW.

September 8-9
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team won all 12 games in the four matches played in the IWU Classic and improved to 8-1 for the season. Natalie Quinton and Melissa Serritella were named to the all-tournament team. On Sat., Sept. 9 the Titans downed Illinois College, 30-17, 30-22, 30-17 and then beat nationally-ranked Wis.-Stevens Point, 30-18, 32-30, 30-27. Freshman Katie Butson led IWU against the Pointers with 14 kills while Quinton had nine. Jenna Passananti made 39 assists and Ashley Reed had 17 digs. Quinton had 11 kills in the win over Illinois College while Passananti had 37 assists and Jaclyn Verticchio made 16 defensive digs. On Fri., Sept 8, the Titans had a 30-10, 30-24, 30-27 victory over Beloit and a 30-13, 30-13, 30-10 triumph over Dominican. Eleven IWU players recorded at least one kill against Dominican as Quinton led the way with nine kills and Verticchio paced the Titans with 10 digs.

September 6
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team improved to 4-1 with a three-game win over Benedictine on Tues., Sept. 5 at the Shirk Center. The Titans won by scores of 30-14, 30-15, 30-21. IWU got 12 kills from freshman Katie Butson and senior Natalie Quinton,  who also made a team-high 16 digs. Melissa Serritella had eight kills and Jenna Passananti had five kills along with 35 set assists and nine digs. IWU hosts a six-team tournament this Fri. and Sat., Sept. 8-9, at the Shirk Center.

September 2
Illinois Wesleyan's Sarah Vegter and Jenna Passananti were named to the all-tournament team as the Titans finished second in the Washington U. tournament in St. Louis on Sat., Sept. 2. The Titans topped Wisconsin-Platteville, 29-31, 30-17, 30-20, 30-25, before losing to tourney champion Washington U., 30-23, 30-27, 30-14. Vegter had a team-high 15 kills with seven digs and four service aces in the win over UW-Platteville, while freshman Katie Butson had 12 kills and Melissa Serritella made 10 kills. Passananti had 47 assists vs. UW-Platteville and 36 more vs. Washington U. Jaclyn Verticchio had 51 digs in the two matches as the Titans finished the weekend 3-1 and will host Benedictine on Tues., Sept. 5 at 7 p.m.

September 1
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team opened its season with a pair of wins on Fri., Sept. 1, at the Washington U. tournament in St. Louis. The Titans topped Wartburg, 30-23, 30-28, 30-27, then did away with Dominican, 30-15, 30-13, 30-19. Senior Melissa Serritella made 11 kills and freshman Katie Butson had 14 against Wartburg while Serritella had seven kills and Lisa Cercello had eight against Dominican. Junior Jenna Passananti had 44 assists vs. Wartburg and 28 vs. Dominican. IWU plays Wisconsin-Platteville (12:15 p.m.) and Washington U. (2:30 p.m.) on Sat., Sept. 2.

August 2
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team has been chosen to finish fourth in the 2006 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin preseason coaches’ poll. Carthage was unanimously picked No. 1 with 49 points, including seven possible first place votes, followed by Elmhurst (42 points), and Millikin (36 points, one first place vote). IWU (27 points) was followed by Augustana and Wheaton (tied for fifth with 25 points), North Central (13) and North Park (7). IWU returns 10 letterwinners, including junior setter Jenna Passananti (shown), a two-time second team all-CCIW player who led the Titans with 1,222 assists in 2005.

June 2006
The Illinois Wesleyan University volleyball team aims to improve on its 14-17 record in 2005 as the Titans open their 2006 season on Sept. 1-2 at the Washington U. tournament in St. Louis. IWU opens with Wartburg at 3 p.m. and plays Dominican at 5:15 p.m. on Sept. 1, then plays UW-Platteville at 12:15 p.m. and Washington U. at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 2. Coached by Kim Nelson-Brown, who has a 10-year record of 219-149, the Titans open at home against Benedictine at 7 p.m. on Sept. 5.