Chicago, Ill. - The Thunder volleyball team stepped out of conference play on Tuesday night and fell in straight sets to #21-ranked University of Chicago by scores of 25-23, 25-20, and 25-18. With the loss, Wheaton falls to 10-14 overall while the Maroons improve to 16-8 overall. Wheaton will return to conference action tomorrow night when the Thunder host Augustana College at 7 PM.

The Thunder and Maroons traded points early in the first set before Wheaton jumped to a 9-5 advantage and forced the Maroons into a timeout. Wheaton's lead continued to hold steady as the set progressed until Chicago scored three straight points to tie the set at 18-18 and force a Wheaton timeout. The Thunder jumped back on top and led 20-19 before anothere three-point swing gave Chicago a 22-20 lead and helped push the Maroons to a 25-23 victory.

A four-point run in the second set turned a two-point deficit into a two-point lead for the Maroons at 10-8. Chicago then extended the run out to 11-1 as the Maroons took a commanding 17-9 edge. Wheaton battled back and was able to cut the deficit to 23-20 before the Maroons scored the final two points to win the set 25-20.

An early burst gave the hosts leads of 8-2 and 13-3 in the third and final set but again Wheaton battled back and trimmed the score to 17-13 and got to within three points at 20-17 but Chicago was able to close out the victory with a 25-18 score.

"Chicago is a very talented team with several senior starters and they just gave us too slim of a margin for error tonight," head coach Brittany Smith noted of her team's performance. "I thought we gave a tremendous effort defensively. It was exciting to see the team battle so well and be willing to make adjustments during the match."

Shelby Knowles led the Thunder with 10 kills on the night. Amanda Smith (PICTURED RIGHT) added nine and Hannah Japp finished with eight kills. Knowles and Kelli Manning, who were both named CCIW Players of the Week earlier on Tuesday, finished with 19 digs each. Ashley Torok had 18 assists and Kelly Thornton to finished with 14 assists.