PICTURED ABOVE: Deborah Smith earned All-Tournament honors for her performance in Saturday's tournament at Knox College.

Galesburg, Ill. - The Wheaton volleyball team picked up a pair of wins on Saturday at Knox College's #Marissastrong Tournament. Wheaton (9-2) won Saturday morning's opener against Finlandia University, 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-15). The Thunder topped Illinois College 3-2 (25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 17-25, 15-10) in the finale to earn the team's first five-set win of the season. Thunder sophomore Deborah Smith picked up All-Tournament honors with her performance for the 'Orange and Blue'.

Wheaton topped Finlandia (2-10) in three games for the second time this season. Freshman Colleen Smith led the Thunder with 12 kills on a .417 attack percentage, and she added six digs. Kalyee Byerly contributed six kills with a .364 attack percentage and Kelly Thornton registered six kills, hitting .750 in the match. Thornton led the Thunder with 17 assists and she registered seven digs. Cassie Swiderek led Wheaton in digs with eight and Jess Bosse tallied seven, with six digs each for Sofia Pluhar and Abby Boss. Ellie Brown had a team-high four assisted blocks and Thornton had three.

Wheaton battled Illinois College throughout the tightly contested five-set win. Wheaton never trailed in the first set as the Thunder won 25-21. Illinois College led the Thunder 12-4 early in the second set. Wheaton gradually closed the Lady Blues' gap. With Illinois College leading 18-15, the Thunder responded with four consecutive points to take a 19-18 lead as Wheaton held on to take the second set. The Lady Blues topped the Thunder 25-22 in the third set and tied the match at two sets apiece with a 25-17 victory in the fourth set. In the decisive fifth set, the matchup was tied 3-3 when the Thunder put together a 7-1 run to gain a 10-4 lead. The advantage was enough to help pace the Thunder to the 15-10 victory in the final set.

Wheaton head coach Stephanie Schmidt said of her team's performance, "We rallied from a deficit to win the second set and then Illinois College adjusted to us and we did not adjust in the next two sets. When we hit the fifth set we had a couple of upper classmen who would not let us lose. I was impressed with our resilience and the way we competed."

Colleen Smith led Wheaton with 16 kills in the win against the Lady Blues. The freshman added 17 digs, three assisted blocks and two service aces. Madeline Moore and Deborah Smith each had 13 kills, with Smith compiling an impressive .357 attack percentage. Thornton and Byerly each tallied eight kills. Thornton tallied a team-high 25 assists in the win and freshman Mia Staub added 23 assists. Bosse had a team-high 30 digs in the match and Thornton added 18. Brown registered a team-high seven assisted blocks.

Wheaton travels to Carroll University next Friday to open CCIW play against the Pioneers.