Pella, Iowa – The Wheaton Thunder volleyball team (11-15) closes out the regular season this weekend at Central College's Sutphen Invitational. Wheaton opened the tournament on Friday night with a 3-1 win against Westminster (Mo.). The Thunder won the first set 25-23 and earned a 25-13 victory in the second set. The Blue Jays won the third set 25-14 and Wheaton closed out the match with a 25-23 victory in the fourth set.
Tonight's Thunder win marked the 100
th career win for Wheaton head coach
Stephanie Schmidt according to the NCAA Statistics Office. Schmidt is in her sixth season at the helm of the Thunder, following five seasons as head coach at North Central University (Minn.)
Emerson Traweek led the Thunder tonight against Westminster with 15 kills in posting a .300 attack percentage.
Caroline Capps had 13 kills, while
Jordan Benford and
Faith Bailey each had five kills.
Davis Whitehead had a team-high 24 assists, and
Lacey Higgins added 13.
Allie High led Wheaton with 22 digs, with 14 recorded by Traweek. Capps had 11 digs, with 10 apiece for Whitehead and Higgins. Higgins had four service aces for the Thunder.
Wheaton won a back-and-forth first set 25-23. There were seven ties and four lead changes in the opening set. Wheaton held a convincing 15-8 lead, but Westminster battled back to tie the set at 22-22. Traweek tallied a kill to give the Thunder a 23-22 lead, but the Blue Jays evened it up at 23-23. Benford tallied a kill for the next point to give Wheaton a 24-23 lead. Capps and Naomi teamed for a block on the next point to secure Wheaton's 25-23 victory. Capps led the Thunder with four kills in the set, and Traweek recorded three. Whitehead had six assists and High had five digs.
Wheaton convincingly won the second set 25-13. The Thunder jumped out to a 10-4 lead and never looked back in leading the set. Traweek had a team-high six kills and Capps tallied three kills. Whitehead had nine assists in the set, and High recorded seven digs.
Westminster won the third set 25-14. Traweek had a team-high two kills in the set.
Wheaton closed out the match by winning the fourth set 25-23. The competitive set saw four lead changes and was tied 10 times. Wheaton led Westminster 17-13, but the Blue Jays battled and trimmed Wheaton's lead to 22-21. The two teams traded points as Wheaton led 23-22. Traweek registered a kill to send Wheaton to match point and a 24-22 lead. Westminster won the next point to trim Wheaton's lead to 24-23. Capps tallied the final kill of the night to earn Wheaton's 25-23 win in the set.
Wheaton closes out its season tomorrow with two matches in the tournament. The Thunder face Nebraska Wesleyan at 11:00 a.m. and Wheaton closes out the season at 1:00 p.m. against the host team, Central College (Iowa).
