PICTURED ABOVE: Kelli Manning led the Thunder with 18 kills in Wednesday's match against Illinois Wesleyan.

Wheaton, Ill. - The Thunder volleyball team dropped its first conference match of the season on Wednesday night with a straight sets defeat at the hands of the Illinois Wesleyan Titans. Illinois Wesleyan improved to 13-10 overall and 2-2 in conference play with set victories of 25-17, 25-22 and 25-18. Wheaton falls to 7-16 with the loss and 1-2 in CCIW play.

Illinois Wesleyan raced out to a 12-1 in the first set on Wednesday night before the Thunder started to chip away at the deficit. The Thunder pulled within seven at 24-17 but the Titans were able to score the final set of the point to clsoe out the 25-17 victory. The Titans used a dynamic .182 hitting percentage to set the tone while Wheaton struggled to a .034 hitting percentage.

The second set was an evenly matched affair with neither team leading by more four points throughout the set. Wheaton was able to pull evel at 17 and again at 18 but eh Titans took advantage of several hitting errors by the Thunder for the 25-22 set victory.

An early jump pushed the Titans out to an 8-3 lead in the third set as the Titans eventually built a 17-9 advantage en route to closing out the match with a 25-18 victory.

Andy DeMoss led the Thunder attack with seven kills. Brittany Creel had six kills in seven attacking opportunities. Ashley Torok and Alley Lindner each had nine assists. Kelli Manning had 18 digs while DeMoss had 10.

Thunder head coach Brittany Smith noted, "I felt like we missed a huge opportunity tonight. We missed some offense with with Shelby Knowles out. However, the lack of defense, reception errors and missed serves cost us significantly."

Wheaton will next be in action on Tuesday night, October 21, when the Thunder host North Park in a CCIW contest at King Arena.