BOXSCORE

Decatur, Ill. – The fifth-seed Wheaton volleyball team kept its season alive on Friday night by defeating top-seeded Millikin in the semifinals of the CCIW Tournament, 3-2. Millikin won the first set 25-14 and Wheaton evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 victory in the second set. Millikin won the third set 25-16 and Wheaton again evened things up at 2-2 with a 25-21 victory in the fourth set. Wheaton was a 16-14 victor in the fifth set.

In the decisive fifth set, Millikin took a 2-0 lead and Wheaton responded with a six unanswered points to take a 6-2 lead. Millikin rallied to tie the set at 8-8. The two teams kept close to each other up to a 14-14 tie. Wheaton won the final two points of the match to secure the victory and advance to the CCIW Tournament Championship Match for the first time since 1989.

Sophomore Hannah Velling led the Thunder with 20 kills and freshman Emily Buyse added 13 kills, with five total blocks. Cassie Murphy and Hannah Graber each recorded seven kills. Setter Jenna McCallister (PICTURED RIGHT) had 45 assists, with six kills. Senior Ashlie Pace had 33 digs, Murphy added 24 digs and McCallister collected 23 digs.

Thunder head coach Jennifer King Soderquist noted after the match, “After the first set we were aggressive and played well. Our aggressiveness was a key for us and it took them [Millikin] out of what they are used to doing.” She added, “We told our team that there was no pressure on us and we had nothing to lose, that helped us to play loose.”

Wheaton (17-18) will face second-seeded Carthage (29-7) at 2 PM on Saturday in the CCIW Tournament Championship. Video of that match will be available here.