Dupage Policy Journal

Senior volleyball player Taylor French from Illinois Wesleyan University has been named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III National Player of the Week for the third time in her career. The announcement was made by the AVCA on Tuesday, November 4.

French now holds the record for the most national weekly honors received by a player from Illinois Wesleyan, surpassing assistant coach Tyler White, who previously earned two such awards. She is also the second IWU athlete to win this honor during the current season, following Kannyn Boyd's recognition on September 2. French became the first player in AVCA history to earn back-to-back national weekly awards, with previous recognitions on October 31 and November 7, 2023. This makes Illinois Wesleyan the first team this season to have two players receive weekly honors from AVCA and marks the first occurrence since UW-Whitewater achieved it during the 2024 season.

French also received recognition as College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Hitter of the Week after leading her team through a successful week with three wins. Two of these victories were against top-five ranked teams, helping Illinois Wesleyan secure an outright CCIW Regular Season Championship—the first time in program history that they have won consecutive championships.

During these matches, French tallied 51 kills with an average of 4.64 per set. On Wednesday night, October 29, she became IWU’s all-time leader in kills after recording her 1778th kill, surpassing Tyler White’s previous record. Over the week she added 35 digs (3.18 per set), seven aces (0.64 per set), four blocks, and one assist.

Her performances included a double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs against Carroll University; a match against No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh where she had 17 kills on a .452 attack percentage along with 15 digs and three aces; and another strong showing versus No. 5 Juniata College with 21 kills and seven digs to close out Senior Day for Illinois Wesleyan. For her efforts over the weekend, French was named to the IWU Tournament III All-Tournament Team.