Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder volleyball team played well on Tuesday night in a CCIW matchup at home to defeat North Central, 3-1. The Thunder won the first set 25-21 and the hosts defeated the Cardinals 25-19 in the second set. North Central (12-6, 2-3 CCIW) was a 25-20 victor in the third set, but the Thunder closed out NCC with a 25-21 victory in the fourth set.
Tonight's win is the first CCIW win of the season for the Thunder as Wheaton improves to 8-7 overall and 1-3 in CCIW play. The Thunder conclude their four-match homestand on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. when Carroll University visits King Arena.
Four Thunder players had nine or more kills in the match tonight as Wheaton posted a .232 attack percentage for the match.
Emerson Traweek led all players with a match-high 15 kills tonight. She also had 12 digs.
Jordan Benford had 11 kills with a .304 attack percentage, nine digs and five assisted blocks.
Ashton Major had 10 kills, with a .318 attack percentage and four block assists.
Caroline Capps tallied nine kills, with nine digs and six block assists.
Faith Bailey had six kills with a match best eight block assists.
Lacey Higgins had 45 assists for the Thunder. Gracey Autry led all players with 22 digs.
Wheaton jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first set. The Thunder never trailed in the opening set. Wheaton's excellence in set number one stood out with a .312 attack percentage, recording 14 kills with just four errors on 32 attempts. Traweek had four kills in the set and Benford added three. Bailey, Major and Capps each tallied two kills. Higgins had 10 assists, and Autry tallied four digs.
North Central led the second set 6-5 when the Thunder responded with seven-consecutive points to take a 12-6 lead. The Thunder never trailed after that run. Wheaton led by four at 20-16 with NCC serving in an attempt to trim the hosts' lead to three points. A chaotic back-and-forth point culminated with a spectacular dig by Autry that went over the net and landed for kill that increased Wheaton's lead to 21-16. Wheaton closed out the set with kills by Major, Capps, Bailey and Benford to earn the 25-19 win. Major had a team-high three kills in the set, with Benford, Bailey and Traweek at two kills apiece. Higgins had 10 assists. Traweek had a team-high four digs and Capps had four assisted blocks.
North Central won the third set 25-20. Wheaton led the set 5-4 when North Central responded with a 7-1 run that gave the guests an 11-6 lead. The Cardinals never trailed in the set as the guests closed out for the 25-20 win. Benford led the Thunder with four kills in the set with three apiece for Capps and Traweek. Higgins had 10 assists with three digs apiece for Autry and Traweek.
Wheaton closed out the match by winning the fourth set 25-21. Wheaton led the set 8-4, but the Cardinals responded with a 6-2 surge to tie the set a 10-10. Wheaton followed with its own surge, using a 6-2 run to take a 16-12 lead. Three of Wheaton's six points in the run came off of Traweek kills. The Cardinals battled back to cut Wheaton's lead to 20-19, but Capps and Bailey each recorded a kill to give the Thunder a 22-19 lead. Capps and Benford followed with kills to put the Thunder one point away from winning the match. Wheaton earned its decisive final point on a block by Benford and Bailey as the Thunder won the set 25-21. Traweek had six kills in the final set with three each for Capps and Major. Higgins distributed 15 assists and Autry was spectacular with 13 digs. Benford and Bailey each had three assisted blocks.
