Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder volleyball team hosted #22-ranked Elmhurst on Wednesday night in the CCIW-opening match for both teams. Elmhurst (5-2, 1-0 CCIW) topped the Thunder 3-1.

Wheaton (3-8, 0-1 CCIW) earned the early 1-0 lead by winning the first set 25-18. Elmhurst responded to tie the match at a set apiece with a 27-25 win in the second set. The Bluejays closed out the match with a 25-21 victory in the third set and a 25-20 win in the fourth and final set.

Shelby Knowles led the Thunder with a match-high 19 kills and she recorded 22 digs. Freshman Meghan Lacey registered 11 kills with 23 digs. Fellow freshman Madeline Moore tallied 10 kills Hannah Japp tallied eight kills and Katie Rohrer added six.

Sophomore Kelly Thornton had 26 assists in the match and Ashley Torok tallied 25 assists. Jessica Bosse had 21 digs while Emily Potts had one solo block and three assisted blocks.

"I am so proud of the team with their play tonight," noted Thunder head coach Brittany Smith. She continued, "We had five players hitting over .200, with limited errors and a very balanced offense run by our two setters. Our three main defenders each had over 20 digs, and we hit many of our statistical goals with our play against a top 25-team. We let a few momentum shifts take over at key moments, but even then, the team rallied back and fought hard for each set." Smith concluded, "This game has the chance to be very significant for us if we are willing to learn from it. Our discipline is improving each day, and our mental toughness is getting stronger. We need to continue to sharpen those aspects of our play moving forward and I know that became apparent to our team at those key moments tonight. I'm very excited to have the team in the gym for training the next few days as we regroup and get better for our next CCIW opponent."

In the first set, Wheaton scored four consecutive points to increase its 4-3 lead to 10-3. The Thunder maintained its lead throughout behind energetic play. Knowles led the Thunder with seven kills in the set, on just nine attempts. Madeline Moore added four kills, as Knowles and Lacey each had four digs in the set.

The tightly contested second set saw Wheaton jump out to an 11-7 lead. Elmhurst responded with an 11-3 run to take an 18-14 lead. Wheaton countered by out-scoring the Bluejays 6-2 to tie the set at 20-20. Elmhurst led 24-23 when a pair of errors by the Bluejays gave Wheaton a 25-24 lead and the opportunity to win. The guests responded with three kills by Melissa Nava to give Elmhurst the 27-25 victory in the set. Lacey and Knowles each recorded four kills in the second set, while Moore, Rohrer and Japp each tallied three kills in the set. Lacey and Bosse each tallied eight digs in the set. 

The third set was tied 13-13 when the Bluejays put together an 8-3 run to gain a 21-16 lead as the guests won the set 25-21. Lacey and Knowles each recorded four kills in the set. Knowles led the Thunder with seven digs in the set and Lacey had five digs. 

The Bluejays never trailed in the fourth set in earning the 25-20 victory. Knowles recorded four kills in the set, while Moore and Japp each had three kills. Bosse recorded a team-high eight digs in the set, while Knowles and Lacey each had six kills.

The Thunder will be off until September 23 when the squad travels to UW-Stevens Point to compete in the CCIW/WIAC Crossover Tournament.