Wheaton, Ill. -- The Thunder volleyball team competed in King Arena for the fourth time in two weeks on Friday night, hosting the Carroll Pioneers in an important CCIW matchup. Carroll emerged with a 3-0 victory over their hosts, dropping Wheaton's season record to an even 8-8 and the team's mark in conference play to 1-4.
The home side earned the first point of Friday's fixture, but Carroll quickly jumped out to a 3-1 lead and held Wheaton at arm's length for most of the opening set. A service ace by
Ashton Major gave the Thunder a 7-6 edge, but the visitors from Wisconsin claimed four of the next five points and did not trail again from that moment on. Facing a 20-16 deficit, Wheaton rattled off four-consecutive points to tie the opening frame and draw a big cheer from the sizable home crowd. But the Pios earned three of the following four exchanges before trading blows with Wheaton and eventually escaping with a 25-23 set win.
The first half of the second set proved to be a pivotal stretch in determining the outcome of tonight's contest. Wheaton impressively leaped out to an 8-0 lead as they looked to tie the score at one set apiece. But Carroll wiped away the subsequent 9-2 deficit with a notable eight-point run of their own to edge in front. The Thunder could not recover from this blow in the remainder of the second frame, and the guests pulled away from an 18-14 position to take the second set at a comprehensive 25-16 mark.
With their backs against the wall, Wheaton fought hard in the third set to give themselves a chance to match Carroll's reverse-sweep in Waukesha last season. The hosts again started brightly, building early leads of 3-1 and 5-2, but the red-hot Pioneers, coming into Friday's meeting on a three-match win streak, kept finding ways to battle back into the game. Another five-point run saw the visitors move in front at 7-5, before Wheaton put together one of their strongest sequences of the night to register a 16--11 lead in the final set. But Carroll tallied seven of the following nine points up for grabs and managed to tie the score at 18 apiece. The home squad responded well, and a kill from
Jordan Benford gave Wheaton set point at 24-22. But the Pioneers refused to let their hosts back into the match and killed off any hopes of a comeback with three-straight successful attacks. Carroll then claimed the final point of the evening to take the decisive third set at 26-24.
Wheaton earned more service aces and blocks than their Waukesha-based opponents tonight, but Carroll posted statistical advantages in the other major categories. The Pioneers' second-set attack percentage of .458 was the highest mark of the evening, while Wheaton had to settle for a first-set number of .286 as their best performance.
Benford led the Thunder attack on Friday, posting 11 kills and a hitting percentage of .474 from 19 total attacks.
Emerson Traweek earned nine kills, while
Caroline Capps and
Lacey Higgins each tallied three service aces. Higgins generated 26 assists this evening, taking her season total past the 500 mark. Major earned a team-high three blocks, while
Grace Autry led the way in digs once again, posting ten.
After three weeks off the road, Wheaton will head to Decatur on Wednesday night to take on the Millikin Big Blue in another conference contest. The Thunder will then travel to Michigan next weekend for a pair of non-conference matchups.
