Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton volleyball team (11-5) hosted a pair of teams in King Arena on Friday night as Aurora University (11-6) and Illinois College (8-3) visited the Thunder. Aurora defeated Wheaton 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-14) in the first match. The Thunder rallied to defeat Illinois College, 3-2 (22-25, 25-15, 19-25, 25-22, 15-13) in the second match of the night.

Wheaton won the final two sets to defeat Illinois College 3-2 in the final match of the night. Audrey Gerze led the Thunder with a team-high 14 kills, adding 16 digs and four service aces. Deborah Smith (PICTURED LEFT) tallied 13 kills and Colleen Smith added 12 kills. Ellie Brown recorded 11 kills for the hosts. Marlee Anderson had a team-high 37 assists in the match and Alecia Funk added 19 with two service aces for the senior. Freshman Allie High led the Thunder with 31 digs. Sadie Elsenbroek  had six total blocks, with four blocks for Kaylee Byerlee.

The Lady Blues won the first set 25-22. Brown and Colleen Smith each had four kills for Wheaton in the opening set and High added four digs. The back-and-forth set was tied 15 times. Illinois College scored three-consecutive points to break a 22-22 and win the match 25-22.

Wheaton controlled the second set, winning 25-15. The Thunder never trailed in the set and the 10-point margin of victory in the final result was Wheaton's largest lead in the set. Colleen Smith had a set-high five kills and High had five digs in the set.

The Lady Blues won the third set 25-19, as the guests never trailed in the set. Gerze registered six digs in the set.

Wheaton tied the match score at 2-2 with a 25-22 victory in the fourth set. The Lady Blues led early in the set and held a 12-9 advantage when the Thunder responded with seven-consecutive points to take a 16-12 advantage. Wheaton maintained its lead for the remainder of the set. Gerze led the Thunder with five kills in the set and High recorded an impressive eight digs.

Wheaton never trailed in the decisive fifth set, winning 15-13. The Thunder jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the set. Wheaton led 12-8 when the Lady Blues responded with three-straight points to trim the Wheaton lead to 12-11. Gerze responded with a kill as Wheaton took a 13-11 advantage. Illinois College had a miscue on the next play as Wheaton had match point in a 14-11 lead. A pair of IC kills trimmed Wheaton's lead to 14-13. Deborah Smith's kill on an Anderson assist gave Wheaton the 15^th point in the set, and the victory. Gerze and Deborah Smith each had three kills in the final set and High totaled 10 digs.

In the matchup against Aurora, High led the Thunder with 16 digs. Colleen Smith added seven digs and five kills. Gerze tallied four kills for the hosts. Anderson had 10 assists and Funk recorded eight.

Wheaton travels to Lake Forest for a non-conference match on October 2 at 7:00 p.m.