PICTURED ABOVE: Shelby Knowles was an All-Tournament selection this weekend at the Midwest Invitational

Grand Rapids, Mich. – The Thunder volleyball team concluded its participation in the Midwest Invitational on Saturday with matches against Calvin College and Ohio Wesleyan. No. 1-ranked Calvin defeated the Thunder 3-0 in the opening session and Wheaton defeated Ohio Wesleyan 3-2 in its final match of the tournament. Thunder senior Shelby Knowles was named to the Midwest Invitational All-Tournament Team for her effort during the tournament.

Calvin (20-0) defeated the Thunder 25-13, 25-17, 25-21 in the opening match of the day. Knowles led the Thunder with eight kills and Meghan Lacey (PICTURED LEFT) contributed six kills. Senior setter Ashley Torok had a team-high 14 assists in the set. Lacey led the Thunder with 13 digs and Jessica Bosse had 11 digs.
 
Wheaton rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Ohio Wesleyan 3-2 in the second match of the day for the Thunder. The Battling Bishops won the first set 25-14 and Wheaton was a 25-20 victor in the second set. OWU topped the Thunder 25-17 in the third set and Wheaton defeated the Battling Bishops 25-21 in the fourth set to send the match to the fifth set. Wheaton secured the win over OWU with a 15-9 victory in the decisive fifth set.

Knowles recorded a season-high 23 kills in the match and she added 16 digs with two service aces. Lacey tallied 13 kills, with 11 digs and two aces against OWU. Freshman Ellie Brown tallied seven kills and Madeline Moore recorded six kills with 11 digs and two service aces. Torok led the Thunder with 32 assists and two aces; Kelly Thornton added 18 assists. Bosse led the Thunder with 25 digs in the match.

Head coach Brittany Smith noted following the weekend effort, "This has been a challenging weekend for the team. For the most part, they've responded well and competed. After a very slow start this morning, the team responded well in the third set against Calvin." She continued, "After being down one sets to two against Ohio Wesleyan, to see the team respond and refocus was outstanding as we have been pushing that hard in practice. The disciplined effort and competitive drive showed up and it was a huge momentum boost for us to take the win in five after losing to OWU in three sets earlier this year."

Wheaton will host Illinois Wesleyan on October 18 at 7 p.m. in King Arena. The Thunder will entertain University of Chicago for "Senior Night" on October 18 at 7 p.m.