Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Illinois Wesleyan, 3-2 (25-18, 24-26, 23-25, 26-24, 15-13) on Tuesday night in King Arena. It marked the second-consecutive five-set victory for the Thunder; with Wheaton also rallying from a 2-1 deficit last Saturday afternoon to defeat Ohio Wesleyan 3-2.
Illinois Wesleyan falls to 14-7 on the season and 4-3 in CCIW with tonight's loss. Wheaton improves to 9-15 on the season with a 3-2 conference record. The Thunder will host University of Chicago on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. in a non-conference matchup for the program's "Senior Night".
Thunder senior
Shelby Knowles led the Thunder with 27 kills tonight, with a sparkling .379 hitting percentage. Freshman
Meghan Lacey (PICTURED LEFT) tallied 13 kills and fellow rookie
Madeline Moore added 13 kills.
Ashley Torok registered 30 assists and
Kelly Thornton added 19 assists. Sophomore
Jessica Bosse had a team-high 20 digs for the Thunder, Knowles tallied 16 digs and Lacey registered 13 digs.
Emily Potts had eight total blocks and
Ellie Brown recorded six total blocks.
Wheaton won the first set tonight, 25-18. The match was tightly contested early, however, Wheaton scored five consecutive points to break a 15-15 tie and gain a 20-15 lead. The Thunder maintained a healthy lead for the remainder of the set to earn the 25-18 victory. Knowles had team-bests of five kills and four digs in the set. Moore added four kills.
Illinois Wesleyan rallied to win the second set 26-24. The Thunder led the set 19-18, but the hosts improved the lead to 22-19. The Titans responded with a 7-2 scoring edge to win the set 26-24. Knowles again led the Thunder with five kills in the set and Lacey added four kills. Bosse had a team-high five digs in the set.
IWU topped Wheaton 25-23 in the third set. The Titans jumped out to a 10-5 lead, but Wheaton countered with a 7-3 scoring advantage to cut the IWU lead to 13-12. The guests led 24-19, but Wheaton responded with four consecutive points to trim the Titans' lead to 24-23. IWU closed out the set with a kill to earn the 25-23 victory. Knowles again led the hosts with six kills and Bosse added 11 digs in the set.
Wheaton tied the match score at 2-2 thanks to a 26-24 victory in the fourth set. IWU led the set 21-18, but Wheaton out-scored the Titans 5-2 to tie the set at 23-23. Knowles registered three kills in the 5-2 run to pace the Thunder. The Titans responded with a kills by Rachel Burkman to take a 24-23 lead. Following an IWU serve for match point, Knowles recorded a key kill to tie the set at 24-24. The senior then registered a service ace on the next point to give Wheaton a 25-24 lead and a serve for set point. A block by Lacey and Brown ended the set with Wheaton earning the 26-24 win to send the match to a decisive fifth set. Knowles recorded nine kills of Wheaton's 11 kills in the set as she registered a .643 hitting percentage in the set.
The Thunder earned the 15-13 victory in the fifth set. The set was tied 9-9 when Wheaton scored two points to take an 11-9 lead and Wheaton never trailed after that point. Lacey led Wheaton with four kills in the set and Torok had five assists.
