NAPERVILLE — A record-setting start for Illinois Wesleyan and an unbeaten weekend for North Central highlighted this week’s College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Women’s Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Week selections. Taylor French and Alysa Lawton powered the Titans to their best start in program history, while Sarah Harvey guided the Cardinals to an unbeaten mark at the Raider Invite in Milwaukee.
 
Hitter: Taylor French, Illinois Wesleyan
Taylor French led the Illinois Wesleyan offense to three sweeps at the Southwestern Invitational on Friday and Saturday, pushing IWU to a 6-0 start to the season, the best start in program history. Named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, French averaged 4.00 kills and 4.72 points per set, hitting .276 across nine sets.
 
The senior from Romeoville, Ill. had five service aces in the Titans’ win over Texas Lutheran on Friday, helping IWU tie a program record with 18 aces in a three-set match. She also had a double-double with 17 kills and 13 digs in a sweep of Puget Sound on Saturday.
 
Setter: Sarah Harvey, North Central
Harvey logged three doubles-doubles for the Cardinals in their perfect 4-0 weekend at MSOE’s Raider Invite on Friday and Saturday. She averaged 11.22 assists and 3.89 digs in NCC’s sweeps of Benedictine, Ripon, Maranatha Baptist and MSOE.
 
In Friday’s opener against Benedictine, the Bolingbrook, Ill. native tallied 34 assists, 14 digs and three service aces. She also had 31 assists and 10 digs Friday against Ripon and closed the weekend Saturday against MSOE with 36 assists and 11 digs.
 
Defensive: Alysa Lawton, Illinois Wesleyan
Lawton played a large role in the strong IWU defense, helping the Titans to their perfect weekend in Georgetown, Texas.
 
Appearing in seven sets for the week, Lawton totaled 38 digs, an average of 5.43 per set. IWU finished the tournament hitting .240 and limiting its opponents to a .130 attack percentage. After only appearing in one set in the sweep of Texas Lutheran on Friday, Lawton stepped in and took over as Illinois Wesleyan’s libero in the two matches Saturday. She finished with 18 digs and three assists to lead the Titans to a sweep of Puget Sound to begin the day, then notched 19 digs and two assists in the sweep of Southwestern.