PICTURED ABOVE: Madeline Moore led the Thunder with 10 kills on Friday night and she added eight digs in the matchup with North Central.

Wheaton, Ill. – The Thunder volleyball team hosted North Central College on Friday night in a CCIW matchup for Wheaton's Homecoming Weekend. The Cardinals defeated Wheaton 3-1 in the league matchup.
 
North Central won the first set 25-14 and the Thunder won an exciting second set 25-23 with a strong performance late. The Cardinals closed out the win with victories in the next two sets as the guests won the third set 25-15 and NCC won the fourth set 25-16.
 
Madeline Moore led the Thunder with 10 kills in the match and she added eight digs. Ellie Brown and Emily Potts each tallied five kills. Alecia Funk (PICTURED LEFT) led the Thunder with 11 assists, adding two service aces and Kelly Thornton contributed 10 assists. Junior Jessica Bosse led the Thunder with 15 digs as Potts and Katie Rohrer each had three total blocks.

In the first set, North Central had a narrow 7-6 lead when the Cardinals responded with an 11-1 run to take an 18-7 lead and pull away from the Thunder in the opening set.

The exciting second set, won 25-23 by Wheaton, had seven lead changes and 10 ties. The Thunder jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the set and the Cardinals responded to tie things a t 9-9. The two teams battled back and forth all the way up to a 22-22 tie. The Cardinals won the next point to gain a 23-22 lead. A kill by Rohrer tied the set at 23-23. The Thunder capitalized on a NCC attacking error to give the hosts a 24-23 lead and the Thunder closed out the victory in the set as Kelly Thornton's kill gave Wheaton the set 25-23. The Thunder scored the final three points in the set to earn the win. Funk tallied five assists in the set and Bosse led all players with six digs in the set.

The Cardinals won the third set 25-15. The set was tied at 5-5 when NCC responded with a 6-1 run to take an 11-6 lead. The Cardinals never trailed after that point in the set.

North Central closed out the match in a 25-16 victory in the fourth set. The Cardinals never trailed in the set as the Cardinals led 5-1 and maintained a lead throughout the final set.

Rachel Elshoff and Cara Howell led the Cardinals with 13 kills apiece. Alexa Zimbleman had 41 assists and Elshoff registered four service aces with a team-high 17 digs.

Wheaton hosts North Park on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. in a CCIW matchup with the Vikings.