PICTURED ABOVE: Hannah Japp (LEFT) had a season-high seven total blocks on Friday and Emily Potts (RIGHT) tied her career-high with six total blocks.

Naperville, Ill. – The Wheaton volleyball team earned a key CCIW win at North Central (18-10, 2-2 CCIW) on Friday night. The Thunder topped the Cardinals 3-1 as Wheaton improves to 10-13 overall and 2-2 in the CCIW.

Wheaton earned a 25-14 win in the first set and downed the Cardinals 25-23 in the second set. North Central won the third set 25-17 to cut Wheaton's lead in the match to 2-1. The two teams battled through a tightly contested fourth set as North Central rallied to tie the set at 24-24, but Wheaton scored the final two points to win the set 26-24 and close out the 3-1 victory.

Junior outside hitter Shelby Knowles (PICTURED LEFT) recorded a career-high 27 kills in the match and she added 13 digs. Sophomores Hannah Japp and Emily Potts each tallied a season-high in total blocks. Japp had five solo blocks and two assisted for seven total blocks in the match and Potts tied her career-high with six total blocks. Japp recorded seven kills in the match and Lauren Wilhite added six kills.

Freshman setter Kelly Thornton had 20 assists and Ashley Torok tallied 19 assists. Senior Kelli Manning (PICTURED RIGHT) had a match-high 20 digs in the match.

Wheaton head coach Brittany Smith said of her team's performance tonight, "I'm very proud of the team for the work they did tonight. We knew it would be a tough battle and no one panicked. Outside of the third set, the players had great composure and focus, and took care of what they needed to. This conference win was huge for us and should give our team a lot of confidence."
 
The two team traded points early in the first set as the opener was tied 9-9 when the Thunder scored three straight points to take a 12-9 lead. North Central cut the Wheaton edge in the set to 14-12, but the Thunder responded with seven consecutive points to take a 21-12 lead. The surge by the guest helped the Thunder with the first set 25-14. Knowles recorded seven kills and six digs in the set. Manning led all players with eight digs.
 
The second set was close throughout as neither team led by more than two points at any time in the set. The set was tied 22 when a kill by Wilhite gave the Thunder a 23-22 lead. A Wheaton error on the next serve tied the set at 23-23, but North Central errors on consecutive plays allowed the Thunder to score the final two points and earn the 25-23 win. Knowles registered six kills in the set.
 
North Central led the third set 14-12 and out-scored the Thunder 5-2 to push its lead to 19-14 as the Cardinals won the set 25-17. Knowles led all players in the set with six kills and Japp tallied two solo blocks with a pair of assisted blocks.
 
The fourth set was close throughout with neither team holding a lead of more than two points. The set was tied at 24-24 when Knowles registered a kill to give the Thunder a 25-24 lead and the serve. Sara Reiskytl tallied a block on the play to give Wheaton the 26-24 win in the set and the 3-1 victory in the match. Knowles had eight kills in the set.
 
Wheaton will travel to 15th-ranked University of Chicago on October 20 for a 7:00 p.m. matchup with the Maroons. The Thunder will resume conference play on October 21 with a 7:00 p.m. contest against Augustana.