GAME STATS PICTURED ABOVE: Maddie McGinnis led the Thunder with 14 kills.
Naperville, Ill. – The Wheaton Volleyball team earned a 3-0 win at North Central College in a CCIW match on Tuesday night. Wheaton won the first set 25-22, followed by a 25-21 win in the second set and the Thunder closed out the victory with a 29-27 win the decisive third set.
The first set was tied 5-5 when Wheaton out-scored the Cardinals 8-2 to take a 13-7 lead. Wheaton held a 15-13 lead, when the Cardinals responded with a 5-1 surge to take an 18-16 lead. Wheaton then countered with its own 6-1 run to take the lead for good and close out the set with a 25-22 win. Wheaton had 14 kills in the opening set, with 13 assists and 17 digs.
Emily Buyse and
Maddie McGinnis each had five kills in the set,
Ashley Torok had 11 assists and
Samantha Hedlund led with nine kills.
The second set was tied at 13-13 when Wheaton countered with four consecutive points to take the lead for good, jumping out to a 17-13 lead. Wheaton tallied 13 kills, with 11 assists and 21 digs in the second set. McGinnis led the Thunder with six kills, Torok had nine assists and Hedlund collected seven digs in the set.
North Central took a 4-0 lead to begin the third set and Wheaton responded to take a 6-5 lead. The entire third set was tightly contested, with Wheaton having a chance to win leading 25-24 thanks to a service ace by Torok. North Central's Kedryn Orrison tallied a kill on the next point tie the set at 25-25. Erorrs by each team on the next four points moved the score to 27-27. Wheaton scored the final two points of the set to secure the 29-27 victory and win the match. Wheaton made 13 kills in the set, with 13 assists and 16 digs. Buyse led Wheaton in the third set with five kills, Torok tallied 12 assists and Hedlund had six digs.
Head coach
Brittany Smith noted after the match, "I was really pleased with our effort and ability to regroup, especially in the third set." She added, "It was great to see our kill numbers tonight. We need to continue to play with a focused consistency and minimize our errors."
McGinnis led Wheaton with 14 kills in the match and she added seven digs. Buyse tallied 12 kills, with three total blocks. Torok distributed 32 assists, with two service aces. Hedlund led the Thunder with 22 digs and
Kelli Manning added eight digs.
Wheaton tallied 40 kills in the match, with a .114 attack percentage and 37 assists The Thunder recorded 54 digs, with five total team blocks. North Central had 32 kills, with a .068 attack percentag and 30 assists. The Cardinals tallied 48 digs, with nine total team blocks.
Wheaton is now 15-6 this year, with a 1-1 conference record. North Central falls to 8-14 this year, with a 1-2 CCIW record.
