Wheaton, Ill. -- The Wheaton volleyball team's season came to an end in the most dramatic fashion possible on Tuesday night, as the Thunder fell to Millikin in five sets in the first round of the 2021 CCIW Tournament. Wheaton ends their campaign with an overall record of 13-17 and a conference record of 5-4, including tonight's result. With the victory, Millikin advances to Thursday's semifinal in Bloomington to take on regular season champions Illinois Wesleyan. 

The match was poised to be an even contest before the first ball was served, as the two teams came in with identical records and had already played a five-set epic in Decatur earlier this season. Millikin was the team in better form entering Tuesday's matchup, but a rare conference tournament match at home for Wheaton, and the experience of having already beaten their opponents once, meant that the playing field was level. 

The first two sets followed a very similar pattern, with Millikin jumping out to sizable leads early on, only for Wheaton to find their footing in the middle of both games. But in each of the first two, Millikin simply had too much firepower and outplayed Wheaton on both sides of the ball. The Big Blue took the first set by a score of 25-16 and the second, 25-17. Millikin's attack was impressive in both sets, posting a 0.357 hitting percentage in the first and 0.342 in the second. But it was their defense that allowed them to beat the Thunder without too much trouble in the opening games, holding Wheaton to -0.028 and 0.128 marks from the floor, respectively. 

Falling behind two sets to none, Wheaton's season was on the verge of a premature and disheartening conclusion. But the Thunder dug deep and showed their top-four form in the next two sets. After returning to the court from their locker room to a standing ovation from the sizable and loud King Arena crowd, Wheaton got off to the perfect start in the fourth set, winning seven of the first eight points. After an Audrey Gerze kill and a Millikin attack error caused by a bad set gave Wheaton a 12-3 lead, it was clear that Millikin would not be leaving town with a sweep. The visitors managed a pair of three-point runs in the middle of the set to force Wheaton to pay attention, but it was largely smooth sailing for the Thunder in set four, and the home side won six of the last eight points to close the third set out at 25-17. The Thunder had their best offensive performance of the night in this game, hitting 0.324 and earning 15 kills, while also limiting Millikin to an impressively low 0.091 hitting percentage.

While the first three sets were relatively straightforward, the last two were anything but. Wheaton began the fourth set in ideal fashion, seizing an early 5-1 lead, but Millikin battled back to make it an 8-7 scoreline, and the remainder of the set was back-and-forth, high quality volleyball. After Wheaton saw a 12-10 lead disappear on the back of a three-point Millikin run, the Thunder responded with a three-point stretch of their own to reclaim a 15-13 edge. From that point on, the two sides exchanged timely kills, defensive stands, and costly service and attacking errors to ensure that the fourth set would be the most competitive one yet. Wheaton earned a slim 20-19 advantage, but Millikin secured four of the next five points to move closer to their ninth consecutive four-set victory on the year. Down 23-21, Wheaton badly needed a break, and they got one when a Millikin attack error allowed the Thunder back into the game. But the next point went the way of the Big Blue, and Wheaton's season was suddenly hanging by a thread. Two points behind their opponent and facing match point, Thunder head coach Stephanie Schmidt elected to call timeout, and this proved to be a pivotal turning point. Wheaton took the last four points of the set and completed a dramatic comeback by winning the game, 26-24. A key Audrey Gerze kill and service ace combination tied the set at 24, before a Millikin error and Colleen Smith kill got the Thunder over the line.

In the first matchup of these two teams this season, the visiting side won the first two sets, then dropped the next two, but managed to recover in time to win the fifth and avoid the reverse sweep. Despite Wheaton's best efforts on Tuesday night, the exact same result came about, as Millikin took the decisive set, 18-16. The Thunder got off to another fast start, building a 6-1 lead at the start of the set, and soon extended this advantage to a 9-3 tilt. The combination of powerful attacking play on the court and vocal support from the stands seemed too much for the away side to overcome. But Millikin rattled off seven of the next eight points to tie up the set at ten points apiece and quiet the King Arena crowd. Wheaton responded excellently by winning four of the next six and giving themselves two shots at winning the fifth set and advancing to the semifinals. But a critical Kamryn Flesner kill and Thunder attack error allowed Millikin back into the match at the eleventh hour. The teams then proceeded to trade match points until the score was tied at 16-16. After Millikin registered a kill on the next point, Wheaton took another last-ditch timeout to try to stave off defeat. But unfortunately for the Thunder, it was not meant to be on Tuesday night, as Millikin won the final point to take the match at three sets to two. There was loud applause for both sides as they left the court, with fans of the two teams acknowledging the instant classic that they had just witnessed.

Individually, Audrey Gerze was arguably the MVP in her last appearance on home floor, posting a team-high 14 kills, adding the same number of digs, and also chipping in with two timely service aces. Fellow senior and recent first team all-conference honoree Colleen Smith led the team in digs with 20, also earned two service aces, and picked up 12 kills. Ashton Major ended her impressive freshman campaign on a high, leading the team in blocks (five), aces (three), and contributing ten kills. And senior Marlee Anderson ensured that her final performance in the Thunder blue was a fitting reflection of her play-making abilities, leading the side with 33 assists.

While the end result was not the one that Wheaton was hoping for, the fans inside King Arena were treated to a postseason classic for the first time in recent memory, and the Thunder players can hold their heads high after a memorable and exciting season.