Wheaton, Ill. – The Thunder volleyball team (9-12, 2-5 CCIW) hosted conference foe Millikin (18-9, 4-3 CCIW) on Wednesday night in Wheaton's home finale for the 2022 season. The Big Blue topped Wheaton 3-2 in the back-and-forth, drama-filled match. Wheaton won the first set 25-21 and the Big Blue won the second set 25-20. Millikin won the third-set 25-12 and Wheaton rallied to win a dramatic fourth set 30-28, sending the match to decisive fifth set. Millikin secured the win with a 15-9 victory in the fifth set.
Caroline Capps recorded a career-high 19 kills in tonight's match.
Abby Lawson and
Faith Bailey each had five kills for the Thunder.
Davis Whitehead tallied 21 assists and
Lacey Higgins added 14.
Allie High led the Thunder with 26 digs, while
Emerson Traweek and Capps each recorded 11. Bailey had a team-high five total blocks for the Thunder.
Wheaton won the first set 25-21. The opening set was tied for the most ties in a set tonight (10) and had the most lead changes (6) of any set tonight. Millikin led the set 13-10, when the Thunder responded with five-consecutive points to take a 15-13 lead. The Big Blue battled back to tie the set at 19-19 when Wheaton countered with four-straight points to take a 23-19 lead as the Thunder emerged with the 25-23 victory. Capps and Lawson each had three kills in the set.
Millikin won the second set 25-20. The set was tied 9-9 when Millikin gained an 11-9 lead and gradually built its lead to six points at 21-15. Capps tallied six kills in the set and high registered eight digs.
Millikin convincingly won the third set 25-12. Capps and
Naomi Bunker each recorded two kills in the third set.
Wheaton rallied to win a dramatic fourth set 30-28. The Thunder led early holding 14-9 lead. The Thunder continued to maintain an advantage at 20-15. However, the Big Blue gradually chipped away at Wheaton's lead in a 9-2 run to take a 24-22 lead. The Big Blue had a service error on the first match point of the night to give the guests a 24-23 lead. A block by Capps and Bunker tied the set at 24-24. Millikin gained a 26-25 lead, but Capps tallied a kill tie to the set at 26-26. The squads against traded points to move to a 28-28 tie. A Millikin went out of bounds on the next serve to give the hosts a 29-28 lead. Capps served for the Thunder and a ball handling error by Millikin gave Wheaton the 30-28 victory to send the match to a fifth set. Capps tallied six kills and Whitehead had eight assists in the set. High (PICTURED LEFT) registered eight digs in the set.
Millikin won the match by earning a 15-9 victory in the fifth set. The Big Blue came out strong with a 9-2 lead early in the set. The guests emerged with the win. Capps had two kills in the final set.
The Thunder travel to Stevens Point, Wisconsin this weekend with three matches at the CCIW/WIAC Crossover event. Wheaton plays UW-La Crosse on Friday afternoon. The Thunder take on UW-Stout and UW-Stevens Point in matches on Saturday. Wheaton closes out the CCIW regular season schedule next Tuesday evening at Illinois Wesleyan.
