Chicago, Ill. – The Wheaton volleyball team (9-8, 2-3 CCIW) earned a hard-fought 3-2 win in conference action at North Park (15-5, 2-2 CCIW) on Wednesday night. The Vikings won the first set 25-18 and Wheaton tied the match at 1-1 by winning the second set 25-18. North Park won the third set 25-21 and Wheaton tied the match at 2-2 with a 25-14 victory in the fourth set. The Thunder closed out the 3-2 win with a convincing15-8 victory in the fifth set.
Caroline Capps led Wheaton with 16 kills, and she posted a .316 attack percentage. Freshman
Jordan Benford tallied 10 kills, and
Emerson Traweek added eight kills. Setter
Davis Whitehead distributed 30 assists, and she added three service aces. Libero
Allie High recorded 17 digs, Traweek added 15 digs and Capps had 11. Wheaton 18 total blocks in the match. Senior
Naomi Bunker tallied nine total blocks and
Faith Bailey added eight total blocks. Capps recorded six total blocks and
Abby Lawson registered five.
North Park won the first set 25-18. The Thunder only led once in the opening set with a 2-1 lead early in the set. The Vikings quickly opened up the lead, holding a 14-7 advantage at one point. Benford had a team-high three kills for the Thunder in the opening set.
Wheaton won the second set 25-18 as the guests jumped out to a 12-5 lead in the set. Capps had three kills in the set and Whitehead had two service aces. Capps recorded a team-high four digs in the set.
It was North Park controlled the third set with a 25-21 win in the set. The Vikings never trailed and jumped out to an 11-5 lead. Traweek, Capps and Bailey each recorded three kills in the set. High registered five digs in the set.
Wheaton never trailed in winning the fourth set 25-14. However, the opening of the set was tightly contested and was tied on five occasions early up until a 7-7 tie. The Thunder recorded five-consecutive points to take a 12-7 lead. The Thunder had a five-point lead at 17-12 when Wheaton closed out the set with an 8-2 advantage. Capps had three kills and two total blocks in the key stretch. Capps tallied five kills in the set, High had six digs and Bailey had four total blocks.
Wheaton impressed in winning the decisive fifth set 15-8. The Thunder led 5-2 and scored the next nine points to take a commanding 14-2 lead. Benford tallied a kill for the final point of the night to lead Wheaton to the 15-8 victory. Capps tallied three of Wheaton's five kills in the set and Benford had two kills. High had two service aces in the final set and Bunker had three total blocks.
Wheaton is off until next Tuesday when the squad hosts the Wheaton Triangular. The event on October 11 starts at 4:00 p.m. as the Thunder host UW-Oshkosh. Edgewood takes on UW-Oshkosh at 6:00 p.m. and the final match of the night is Wheaton versus Edgewood at 8:00 p.m.
