Ripon, Wis. - The Wheaton Thunder volleyball team earned a pair of 3-0 victories on Saturday in the final day of action at the Ripon College Quadrangular. Wheaton opened Saturday's play with a 3-0 win (28-26, 25-19, 25-16) against Marian University (Wis.) and the Thunder closed out the day with a 3-0 victory (25-11, 25-14, 25-9) versus Finlandia University.

The Thunder posted a 3-0 record in the tournament to win the event this weekend as freshman Colleen Smith  earned All-Tournament honors. Wheaton's 3-0 start to the 2018 campaign marks the first time in more than 20 years that the volleyball program has a 3-0 start to the season; and is the first time under the NCAA's current match structure (best-three-of-five).

Smith led Wheaton in the 3-0 victory against Marian with 14 kills, posting a .344 attack percentage, and the rookie added 18 digs. Madeline Moore contributed 13 kills in the match and Kelly Thornton added six kills. Setter Alecia Funk distributed 18 assists, with three service aces; and Kelly Thornton contributed 16 assists. Senior Jess Bosse tallied 21 digs and Thornton registered 17 digs. Head coach Stephanie Schmidt's squad tallied five team blocks in the match.

Ellie Brown led a balanced attack for Wheaton in the finale against Finlandia with a team-high seven kills, registering a .333 attack percentage . Thornton added six kills, with five kills apiece for Smith and Sadie Elsenbroek, as Elsenbroek posted a .444 hitting percentage. Thornton tallied a team-high 17 assists in the win against the Lions and Mia Staub added 10 assists. Ellie Brown registered four service aces and Colleen Smith tallied three. Bosse had a team-high 16 digs, with 11 digs for Smith. Wheaton registered seven total blocks in the victory and the Thunder posted a .310 attack percentage.

Wheaton hosts the Wheaton Tri-Match on Tuesday in King Arena. The Thunder entertains UW-Oshkosh at 4:00 p.m.; UW-Oshkosh takes on Edgewood College at 6:00 p.m. and Wheaton hosts Edgewood at 8:00 p.m.