Naperville, Ill. – The Wheaton volleyball team earned its fifth-consecutive victory on Friday night with a 3-1 (25-16, 21-25, 27-25, 25-17) win at North Central (13-14, 0-7 CCIW). Tonight's victory marked the 300^th career win in the 12-year head coaching career of Thunder head coach Brittany Smith (PICTURED ABOVE). Smith is 300-159 in her coaching career.

The Thunder improved to 12-15 overall and 5-2 in CCIW play. Wheaton secured a spot in the upcoming CCIW Tournament that begins next Friday with tonight's win. Wheaton remains tied for third place in the CCIW standings with just one conference match remaining in the regular season; next Tuesday at Carthage.

Senior outside hitter Shelby Knowles (PICTURED LEFT) led the Thunder tonight with 19 kills and she added 17 digs. Meghan Lacey tallied 12 kills and she added 17 digs. Freshman Madeline Moore registered seven kills. Ashley Torok distributed 31 assists and Kelly Thornton added 13 kills. Sophomore Jessica Bosse led all players with 18 digs and she added three service aces.

Smith noted of her team's performance against the Cardinals, "I'm proud of the team and how they regrouped tonight. As a team, we didn't do our best, but we fought and made adjustments when it mattered the most. To secure that victory puts us into the conference tournament which has been our goal since the beginning of the season. That's a great victory for us as our hard work all season is paying off."