Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton volleyball team (10-15) earned its third consecutive victory on Thursday night with a 3-1 win against the University of Chicago (15-8). Wheaton topped the Maroons 25-21 in the first set and Chicago responded with a 27-25 victory in the second set. Wheaton won a 25-20 decision in the third set and the Thunder closed out the win with a 27-25 victory in the fourth set.

Senior Shelby Knowles led the Thunder with 24 kills as she recorded a .351 hitting percentage, and she added 16 digs. Freshman Meghan Lacey registered 15 kills with 17 digs. Katie Rohrer tallied eight kills, Emily Potts had six kills and Sara Reiskytl added five kills. Sophomore setter Kelly Thornton (PICTURED LEFT) had 30 assists and Ashley Torok distributed 24 assists. Sophomore Jessica Bosse had 24 digs and Lacey had a game-high four service aces. Pott and Reiskytl each registered four total blocks.

Wheaton head coach Brittany Smith commented after the match, "Tonight came down to leadership and a couple of people stepping up their game. Chicago is a low-error and aggressive team. Earlier in the season we would not have fared well against a team like this, however, our leadership has really stepped up, demanded more and made smarter choices. I feel like our offense was distributed really evenly based on hitters that were hitting really well. We took advantage of the opportunities we had tonight and quite frankly I felt like our serve receive game and serving game was outstanding."

Wheaton never trailed in the first set in earning the 25-21 victory. Wheaton jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the set and never looked back. Knowles led the Thunder with six kills and six digs in the set and Lacey (PICTURED RIGHT) added four kills. Thornton had two service aces and Bosse led all players with seven digs.

Chicago rallied for a 27-25 victory in the second set. Wheaton had an opportunity to win the set when the Thunder had the serve for set point at 24-22. Chicago's Audrey Scrafford responded with a kill to cut Wheaton's lead to 24-23 and the Maroons scored the next point to tie the set at 24-24. Lacey registered a kill on the next serve to give Wheaton a 25-24 lead. Wheaton again served for set point, but a kill by Chicago's Sarah Muisenga tied the set at 25-25. Chicago scored the next two points to win the set 27-25. Knowles tallied six kills in the set, while Torok and Thornton each had seven assists. Bosse had five digs and Knowles tallied two service aces in the set.

Wheaton earned the 25-20 victory in the third set. The Maroons led the set 9-8 when the guests out-scored Wheaton 5-1 to give Chicago a 14-9 lead in the set. Wheaton then countered with an 8-2 scoring edge to take a 17-16 lead in the set. The set was tied 18-18 when Wheaton registered a 7-2 scoring advantage to close out the set. Lacey led Wheaton with six kills in the set and Knowles contributed five kills. Lacey had two service aces and nine digs in the set.

The Thunder closed out the match with a 27-25 victory in the fourth set. Wheaton jumped out to a 16-9 lead in the final set. Wheaton led 24-21 when the Maroons responded with four consecutive points to take a 25-24 lead. Knowles tallied a kill to tie the set at 25. An attacking error by Chicago on the following serve gave Wheaton a serve for match point at 26-25 and Knowles recorded her seventh kills of the set to give Wheaton the win. Knowles led the Thunder with seven kills. Bosse (PICTURED LEFT) had a team-high two service aces in the set and she added seven digs. Potts recorded three block assists.

Wheaton will host Augustana next Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. in the final home match of the 2016 season for the Thunder.