Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton College volleyball team improved to 2-0 in CCIW play and 9-2 overall on Wednesday night with a victory at home against North Park (5-6, 0-1 CCIW). The Thunder earned a 3-1 victory as the hosts won the first set 25-18 and North Park was the winner in the second set, 25-23. Wheaton picked up a 25-12 victory in the third set and closed out the match with a 25-17 victory in the fourth set.

Four Wheaton players tallied nine or more kills in the match as the Thunder registered 55 total kills in the contest. Senior Ellie Brown led the Thunder with 12 kills. She had only two errors, on 26 attempts for a .385 hitting percentage. Sophomore Colleen Smith tallied 11 kills for Wheaton. Audrey Gerze and Deborah Smith each had nine Kills as Smith posted a .400 hitting percentage.

Marlee Anderson had a team-high 26 assists and Alecia Funk added 18 assists. Allie High and Funk each recorded three service aces.  High recorded a team-high 20 digs for the Thunder as Colleen Smith had 15 digs and Audrey Gerze added 14.

North Park led early in the first set, with a 5-1 advantage for the guests. Wheaton countered with seven-consecutive points to take a 7-5 lead. The Thunder never trailed for the remainder of the set as the hosts led by as many as seven points with a 19-12 advantage. Brown had six kills in the first set as Gerze and High each registered five digs.

North Park won the second set by pulling away with a lead in the middle of the set. The Vikings broke a 10-10 tie to take an 18-12 lead on the Thunder. NPU led 23-17 when the Thunder responded with three-consecutive points to cut the Vikings' lead to 23-20. The guests scored a point to take a 24-20 lead and serve for set point. Wheaton again countered with three-consecutive points to trim the NPU lead to 24-23, but the Vikings got the key set point on a Wheaton miscue as North Park won 25-23. Colleen Smith had five kills and High tallied five digs for the Thunder. Funk had two service aces in the set for the hosts.

Wheaton convincingly won the third set 25-12. The set was tied 6-6 when the Thunder put together a 14-3 run to give the hosts a 20-9 lead. Brown and Gerze each had four kills in the set, while High recorded two service aces.

The Thunder won the fourth set 25-17 to earn the victory in the match. Deborah Smith's kill for the Thunder broke a 3-3 tie and sparked a 6-2 run for the Thunder as Wheaton led 9-5 and never trailed after that point. Deborah Smith had four kills in the set and high registered seven digs.

Wheaton travels to Madison, Wisconsin Saturday for a pair of matches in a tri-match at Edgewood College. The Thunder take on the host Edgewood College Eagles at noon, followed by a matchup against UW-Oshkosh at 2:00 p.m.