Illinois Wesleyan 2007 Volleyball Stories

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Illinois Wesleyan 2007 Preseason Information (pdf)

November 8
Illinois Wesleyan senior setter Jenna Passananti (Western Springs, Ill., LaGrange Lyons HS) has earned honorable mention on the American Volleyball Coaches Association all-Midwest Region squad. Passananti finished her career as the all-time assist leader at the school with 5,632, an average of 11.71 per game in 481 games. She is also ranked No. 4 in service aces with 197, No. 5 in digs (1,523), and No. 17 with 183 total blocks in school history. This season she led the Titans with 1,388 assists and was fourth with 324 digs. In 2006 Passananti was a first team all-Midwest Region and became 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. She was a three-year first team selection in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.

November 5
Four Illinois Wesleyan volleyball players were chosen to the all-league teams in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin by league coaches. Jenna Passananti was a repeat choice as a first team member and Katie Butson was named to the second team for the second straight year. Earning honorable mention were junior Michelle Malinowksi and senior Ashley Reed. Passananti, who was also selected to the CCIW all-tournament team, finished second in the league statistics with 11.73 assists per game and tied for fourth with .5 service aces per game. Butson was second in conference play with 4.42 kills per game, Malinowski was ninth in kills per game (3.08) and hitting percentage (.255) and Reed was third in the CCIW in digs (5.62 per game) and aces (.42).

November 3
The No. 5-seed Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team (20-17 overall) was ousted from the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournament on Friday, Nov. 2, losing at No. 1 seed Carthage in four games. The Lady Reds (now 30-4 overall) won by scores of 30-18, 22-30, 30-18, 30-26. In game one, Carthage got out to a 15-3 lead and IWU got no closer than 10 points twice late. In the game two win, the Titans led 18-10 and held on to win as Carthage got no closer than six, 28-22. In game three, Carthage led 13-8 before a 12-2 run made it 25-10 and IWU got no closer than 11 points. Carthage went up by as much as five, 12-7, before IWU used a 15-9 run to go ahead, 22-21. IWU had a two-point lead, 25-23, but Carthage tied it at 25 and, after a 26-26, the Lady Reds ripped off four straight points to win.

October 30
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team won the play-in match at North Central on Tuesday, Oct. 30, to advance to the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournament Nov. 2-3. The No. 5-seed Titans defeated the No. 4 seed Cardinals in Naperville, 30-18, 33-31, 23-30, 14-30, 15-6, and will next play top-seed Carthage at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 2. Michele Malinowski led IWU with 21 kills and 11 digs while Lori Johnson had 14 kills and Katie Butson had 13 kills and 23 digs. Jenna Passananti made 55 assists and Ashley Reed had 18 digs and became the single season record holder for digs at IWU with 674. The Titans improved to 20-16 overall while the Cardinals finish the year 26-8. IWU's next foe, Carthage (29-4), is No. 6 in the week's American Volleyball Coaches Association/CSTV NCAA Division III poll and first in the Oct. 24 Midwest Regional poll, blanked North Park, 3-0, in Tuesday's play-in match.

October 26-27
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team split their four games in the Wisconsin-Whitewater Tournament on Oct. 26-27. On Saturday, Oct. 27, the Titans defeated Wisconsin-Platteville in four games (30-21, 18-30, 30-26, 33-31) before losing to No. 7-nationally ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater in four (30-18, 26-30, 30-21, 30-21). On Friday, the Titans lost to No. 9 nationally-ranked Wisconsin-Oshkosh (30-20, 30-20, 30-27) before defeating Edgewood (30-26, 30-19, 30-20). Illinois Wesleyan (now with an overall record of 19-16) will play at No. 4-seed North Central on Tuesday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play-in game.

October 23
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team fell to 17-14 overall and 3-4 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with a three-game loss to Augustana at the Shirk Center on Tuesday, Oct. 23. The scores were 34-32, 30-20, 30-28 to the Vikings (17-11, 6-1 CCIW).The loss means IWU will play at North Central in the play-in game for the CCIW tournament next Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.  IWU was led by the 17 kills and 18 digs from Michelle Malinowski while current CCIW "Player of the Week" Katie Butson had 10 kills and 19 digs. Jenna Passananti and Ashley Reed were honored on "Senior Night" and Passananti made 40 assists while Reed made 17 digs. The Titans will play at the Wisconsin-Whitewater tournament this Friday and Saturday and among their foes will be two nationally-ranked teams: No. 7 Whitewater and No. 9 Wis.-Oshkosh.

October 23

Illinois Wesleyan sophomore outside hitter Katie Butson and Jessica LeClaire of Millikin were named volleyball players of the week in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin on Oct. 23 for their play last week. Butson helped IWU to a 1-1 record in CCIW play last week as she averaged 5.38 kills and 4.38 digs in eight games. In a 3-1 win against Elmhurst on Oct. 18, Butson had 26 kills, the most in an Illinois Wesleyan match since Beth Crowley had 26 (vs. St. Norbert in 2003), and 16 digs with three blocks. Her hitting percentage in the match was .234 and for the week it was .204. In a 3-1 loss at North Central on Oct. 16, Butson had 17 kills and 19 digs with two blocks. Her hitting percentage was .159. She averaged .62 blocks and .62 service aces per game.

October 18
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team lost the first game but came back to win the next three in taking a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin match from Elmhurst on Thursday, Oct. 18 at the Shirk Center. The scores were 23-30, 30-26, 30-23, 30-28 as the Titans improved to 17-13 overall and 3-3 in the CCIW. Elmhurst drops to 10-16, 2-4 CCIW. Senior setter Jenna Passananti had 56 assists in the match, giving her 1,113 for the season and 5,357 in her career, making her the all-time leader at IWU, eclipsing the old mark of 5,307 set by Tiffany Hamblin from 1999-2002. The Titans will honor Passananti and fellow senior Ashley Reed next Tuesday, Oct. 23 when they host Augustana at 7:30 p.m. for "Seniors Night."

October 16
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team dropped a four-game match to North Central, losing by scores of 26-30, 30-22, 21-30, 24-30, in Naperville on Tuesday, Oct. 16. Katie Butson had 17 kills, Emily Hagen had 15 and Michelle Malinowksi had 13 to lead IWU while current College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin "Player of the Week" Ashley Reed had 25 digs and Butson had 19. Jenna Passananti had 44 assists and 16 digs for the Titans, who fell to 16-13 overall and 2-3 in the CCIW. North Central improved to 21-6 overall, 2-3 in the CCIW. IWU hosts Elmhurst at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 18.

October 16
Illinois Wesleyan senior libero Ashley Reed has been chosen the co-winner of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin "Volleyball Player of the Week" award for her play Oct. 9-14. Reed was chosen to the Wartburg Invitational all-tournament team as she averaged 5.7 digs per game (17 games) in helping IWU to the title of the eight-team event. Reed had 31 digs in a four-game championship win vs. Nebraska Wesleyan and had 28 digs and two aces in five games against Bethel. She also had 18 digs and two aces against Wis.-River Falls, 20 digs and three aces vs. Simpson, and earlier in the week, she had 19 digs and five service aces in a four-game CCIW win at Millikin. Reed currently is No. 4 all-time at IWU with 1,453 digs.

October 14
Illinois Wesleyan senior setter Jenna Passananti and senior libero Ashley Reed were named to the all-tournament team of the Wartburg Invitational last weekend and Passananti was chosen as the tourney’s “Most Valuable Player.” The Titans improved to 16-12 in winning the tournament and will resume College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play on Tuesday, Oct. 16 at North Central. The Titans were joined on the all-tournament team by Lindsey Thomsen and Abby Bade of Nebraska Wesleyan, Liz Giesne of Bethel, Ashley Rogers of Wartburg and Tara Christensen of Simpson.

October 13
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team claimed the championship of the Wartburg Invitational, winning two more matches on Saturday, Oct. 13 to go 4-0 in the tourney. The Titans defeated Simpson, 30-25, 29-31, 30-27, 30-26, in the morning session then defeated Nebraska Wesleyan, 30-24, 30-27, 29-31, 30-23, to earn the championship. Emily Hagen led the tournament with a .331 hitting percentage and had 16 kills and three blocks vs. Simpson while Michele Malinowski had 13 kills and Katie Butson had 10. Five Titans had double figure kills against Nebraska Wesleyan - Butson (18), Malinowski and Amy VanDerVoorn (17), Hagen (12), and Lori Johnson (10). Jenna Passananti had 112 assists in the eight games Saturday. IWU is now 16-12 overall and resumes College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play on Tuesday, Oct. 16 at North Central.

October 12
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team claimed a pair of wins at the Wartburg Invitational on Friday, Oct. 12 in Waverly, Iowa. The Titans improved to 14-12 overall with wins over Bethel (30-20, 31-29, 24-30, 26-30, 15-9) and Wisconsin-River Falls (30-16, 30-18, 28-30, 30-24). Against Bethel, Michele Malinowski had 15 kills and 19 digs while Katie Butson had 14 kills and Emily Hagen had 11. Jenna Passananti made 48 assists and Ashley Reed made 28 defensive digs. IWU plays Simpson at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 13 and then against against a team to be determined at either 1 or 3.

October 9
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team improved to 12-12 overall and 2-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with a 3-1 win over Millikin in Decatur on Tuesday, October 9. The game scores were 25-30, 30-25, 30-12, 30-23. Katie Butson led the team with 19 kills with Michele Malinowski tallying 11 and Emily Hagen adding 10. Jenna Passananti had 47 assists and three aces while Ashley Reed finished with 19 digs. Amy VanDerVoorn finished with a team-high seven blocks and and Butson added six. The Titans will play this weekend in a tournament at Wartburg College, facing Bethel and Wisconsin-River Falls on Friday, Oct. 12, and Simpson and a team to be determined on Saturday, Oct. 13.

October 6
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team finished 2-2 in its own invitational October 5-6 at the Shirk Center, splitting a pair of matches on Saturday. The Titans defeated Hope, 30-23, 30-27, 30-20, before losing to No. 7 ranked Wis.-Oshkosh, 26-30, 17-30, 34-32, 30-24, 6-15. Sophomore Katie Butson was selected to the all-tournament team as she had a team-high 12 kills with 12 digs vs. Hope and had 15 kills and five blocks vs. UW-Oshkosh. Michelle Malinowski had 11 and 14 kills and Amy VanDerVoorn had nine and 13 vs. the Saturday opponents, respectively. Jenna Passananti had 97 assists in the two matches and Ashley Reed totaled 28 digs. The Titans (11-12 overall) will play a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin match at Millikin on Tuesday, Oct. 9.

October 5
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team split a pair of matches on the first day of its own invitational on Friday, Oct. 5. IWU downed Millikin, 30-20, 30-21, 30-27, before losing to No. 4 ranked Emory, 28-30, 26-30, 23-30. Jenna Passananti had 46 assists and 14 digs while Emily Hagen had 12 kills, Katie Butson had 11 and Amy VanDerVoorn had 10 in the win over Millikin. Butson had a team-best 15 kills and 20 digs against Emory while Ashley Reed had 16 digs and Passananti had 35 assists. The Titans (10-11 overall) will meet Hope at 10 a.m. and No. 7 ranked Wisconsin-Oshkosh at 2:30 p.m. on the final day of the event on Saturday, Oct. 6 at the Shirk Center.

October 2
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team improved to 9-10 overall and 1-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with a three-game win over North Park on Tuesday, Oct. 2 in Bloomington. The scores were 30-16, 30-15, 30-18. Sophomore Amy VanDerVoorn led IWU with 14 kills while Katie Butson had 11. Ashley Reed had a team-high 13 digs and senior Jenna Passananti returned to the lineup after an ankle injury and paced IWU with 39 assists. North Park slipped to 11-11 overall and 0-3 in the conference.

September 25
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team lost in three games to Carthage on Tuesday, Sept. 25 at the Carthage Physical Education Center in Kenosha, Wis. The Lady Reds’ winning game scores over the Titans were 30-23, 30-16 and 30-27. The Titans fall to 8-10 overall and 0-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, while Carthage, ranked 10th in the Sept. 25 American Volleyball Coaches Association/CSTV NCAA Division III poll, improved to 16-2 overall and 1-0 in the CCIW. Ashley Reed had 30 digs for the Titans while Katie Butson had 20 digs and 10 kills and Michele Malinowski had seven kills and 16 digs. Jen Callanan was the team leader with 28 set assists. The Titans' next game is at home against North Park on Tuesday, Oct. 2.

September 21-22
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team swept all four games in the 5th Annual Linda Slagell Volleyball Classic, hosted by Millikin University on Sept. 21-22. On Saturday, Sept. 22, the Titans defeated Rockford, 30-22, 32-30, 30-20, then dispatched College of St. Scholastica, 30-21, 30-28, 30-20. Against Rockford, Michele Malinowski had 12 kills, Jen Callanan made 34 assists and Ashley Reed had 15 digs. Malinowski led IWU with 13 kills and 12 digs vs. St.Scholastica, while Callanan had 40 assists and Amy VanDerVoorn made four blocks.
IWU snapped a five-match losing streak with a pair of wins on Friday, Sept. 21. The Titans improved to 6-9 overall as they defeated Albion (Mich.), 27-30, 30-20, 30-20, 30-20, then handled New York University, 30-13, 28-30, 30-20, 30-24. With a four-game winning streak, IWU plays at Carthage in a conference match on Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m.

September 18
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team lost its fifth straight match and its first College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin match of the year, falling to Wheaton in three games at the Shirk Center on Tuesday, Sept. 18. The Thunder took the games, 30-23, 30-18, 30-27.Sophomore Katie Butson had 13 kills and made 13 defensive digs to pace the Titans while Ashley Reed added 11 digs and Jenna Passananti had 29 assists before suffering an ankle injury in the third game. IWU (4-9 overall, 0-1 CCIW) plays next in the 5th annual Linda Slagell Classic at Millikin, facing Albion at 5 p.m. and New York University at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 21.

September14-15
The IWU volleyball team lost four matches, three to nationally ranked teams, at a weekend tournament in LaCrosse, Wis. on Sept. 14-15. On Saturday, Sept. 15, the Titans lost to Lakeland, 26-30, 26-30, 31-29, 30-27, 9-15, and then fell to No. 9-ranked St. Thomas (Minn.), 21-30, 34-36, 27-30. Emily Hagen was chosen to the all-tournament team as she had 16 kills vs. Lakeland and 10 more against St. Thomas. Katie Butson and Lori Johnson each had 14 kills vs. Lakeland, Jenna Passananti had 52 assists and Ashley Reed made 26 digs. Against St. Thomas, Butson had 14 kills, Passananti had 42 assists and Reed led IWU (now 4-8 overall) with 14 digs.
IWU lost two matches to nationally-ranked foes at the Wisconsin-Whitewater Invitational on Friday night, falling to No. 6-ranked Carthage College 30-25, 30-28, 20-27 and No. 24-ranked Wisconsin-La Crosse, 25-30, 30-16, 30-22, 31-29. Michele Malinowski and Hagen each had 16 kills in the loss to LaCrosse, while Butson topped the Titans with 11 kills in a setback to Carthage.

September 8
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team split two matches on Sat., Sept. 8 at the IWU Fall Classic in the Shirk Center. The Titans (now 4-4 this season) lost to Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 30-27, 17-30, 30-26, 30-28, and defeated Blackburn, 30-11, 30-27, 30-15. Against Stevens Point, Katie Butson had 16 kills and Michele Malinowksi added 14 while Ashley Reed had a team-high 19 digs. Jenna Passananti, who was named to the all-tournament team, had 53 assists. Butson had a team-best 13 kills and Lori Johnson added 10 in the win over Blackburn. Butson had nine digs and Passananti had 33 set assists to pace the Titans, who play next weekend in a tournament in LaCrosse, Wis.

September 7
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team split a pair of matches in the IWU Fall Classic on Fri., Sept. 7 at the Shirk Center, defeating Illinois College and losing to Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Titans downed the Lady Blues, 30-11, 30-20, 30-18, as Michele Malikowski had nine kills and nine digs and freshman Lori Johnson had eight kills and seven digs. Jenna Passananti had 26 assists and 11 digs and Ashley Reed also had 11 digs. The Titans (3-3) lost to Whitewater, 28-30, 27-30, 30-32. The Warhawks were No. 3 in the preseason national Division III coaches' poll. IWU plays Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 10 a.m. and Blackburn at 2:30 p.m. in the final day of the tourney on Sat., Sept. 8.

September 1
After losing a pair of matches on Friday, the Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team evened its season record at 2-2 with a pair of wins on Sat., Sept. 1 in the Elmhurst Invitational. The Titans defeated the College of St. Scholastica, 29-31, 30-10, 30-24, 24-30, 15-11, then topped the host school Elmhurst, 30-17, 30-18, 30-24. Katie Butson had 18 kills, Emily Hagen had 13 and Michele Malinowski added 12 in the win over Elmhurst. Malinowski had 12 digs and Butson had 11. Malinowski had 24 kills and Butson had 18 in the five-game win over St. Scholastica. IWU will host a tournament on Sept. 7-8 and will next play against Illinois College at 3 p.m. on Fri., Sept. 7.

August 31
The Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team lost its first two matches at the Elmhurst Invitational on Fri., Aug. 31, falling to Wis.-Platteville, 30-20, 30-24, 30-25, and then to Nebraska Wesleyan, 31-29, 30-26, 30-22. Sophomore Emily Hagen had 10 kills and four blocks against Platteville while senior Ashley Reed had 10 digs and senior Jenna Passananti made 31 assists. Sophomore Katie Butson led the team with 13 kills vs. Nebraska Wesleyan and had 16 digs while Reed added 22. Passananti made 38 assists. The Titans will play St. Scholastica at 12 p.m. and Elmhurst at 2 p.m. on Sept. 1.

August 3
Earning 41 points with two first place votes, the Illinois Wesleyan volleyball team is picked second in the 2007 preseason College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin coaches’ poll. The Titans (24-12 overall and 5-2 CCIW, good for second place in 2006) were picked behind only Carthage, who got 48 points and the remaining six first place votes - go here to see entire poll.

July 5
All-conference players Jenna Passananti (first team) and Katie Butson (second team) return for the 2007 version of the Illinois Wesleyan University volleyball team that opens its season at the Elmhurst Tournament August 31-September 1. The Titans play Wisconsin-Platteville at 4 p.m. and Nebraska Wesleyan at 8 p.m. on the opening day of the tourney. IWU finished 2006 with a 24-12 overall record and a 5-2 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark, good for second place as Butson was also chosen as the league's "Newcomer of the Year." Coached by Kim Nelson-Brown, who has an 11-year record of 243-161, the Titans open at home against Illinois College at 3 p.m. on Sept. 7 in the IWU Classic.