Naperville, Ill.-  It was deja vu all over again for the Wheaton volleyball team on Tuesday night in Naperville.  363 days ago, Wheaton defeated North Central in the CCIW Play-in game at King Arena to advance to the CCIW Tournament.  This time sixth-seeded Wheaton had to travel to Naperville, but returned home with the same result, a 3-1 victory over the third-seeded North Central Cardinals.

Wheaton needed extra time to take the first set of the match but did so by a score of 26-24 before dropping a tightly contested game two 23-25.  In the third set, extra points were needed once again to determine a winner, but again Wheaton prevailed by a score of 28-26.  Wheaton then sealed the victory with a 25-19 victory inthe fourth set.

Andy DeMoss led the attack for the Thunder with 14 kills while Lauren Wilhite dished out 41 assists.  Kelli Manning (PICTURED RIGHT) led in digs with 23 and Emily Buyse had a strong presence at net with eight blocks.  Cora Nott led with two service aces.

Elmhurst's R.A. Faganel Hall will play host to this weekend's CCIW Tournament.  Wheaton will face #3-seeded Carthage in a 4:30 semifinal match.  Wheaton fell to Carthage 3-1 in the CCIW Semifinals a year ago and lost to the Lady Reds in straight sets earlier this season.

Worth Noting:  #1-seed Elmhurst will face #4-seeded Millikin in the other semifinal...the championship match will be played Saturday afternoon at 2 PM at R.A. Faganel in Elmhurst...this is the final year for the CCIW Play-in match as starting in 2013, the tournament will consist only of the top four seeds...Wheaton is 5-0 at North Central's Gregory Arena this season after winning the 2012 Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament there earlier this season.

Click here for a link to the 2012 CCIW Volleyball Tournament.