Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton volleyball team hosted No. 20 North Park on Wednesday night in King Arena. Wheaton is now 7-7, 0-3 CCIW, while the Vikings improve to 15-1 overall, 4-0 in conference play.

The Vikings won the first set 25-13. The guests escaped with a 30-28 victory in a drama-filled second set that was tied on 17 occasions with eight lead changes. The guests closed out the match with a 25-15 victory in the third set.

Jordan Benford led the Thunder with eight kills, and Emerson Traweek added six kills. Caroline Capps tallied five kills and Ashton Major had four kills.

Setter Lacey Higgins distributed 23 assists and Capps had two service aces. Grace Autry led the Thunder with 15 digs and Emerson Traweek added 10. Major and Capps each had three assisted blocks.

The Vikings won the first set 25-13. North Park snapped a 2-2 tie in the set with four-straight points to take a 6-2 lead and guests continued to expand their lead to 12-5 with a 10-3 overall. Capps had three kills in the set, and Autry had four digs.

NPU won the tightly contested second set 30-28. The largest lead by either team in the second set was a four-point North Park lead at 6-2. Wheaton responded with six-consecutive points to take an 8-6 lead. The Vikings rallied from a 27-28 deficit with three-straight points to earn the 30-27 win in the set. Benford had four kills in the set with Major and Traweek each adding three kills. Higgins had 12 assists in the set. Traweek had seven digs and Autry tallied six.

The Vikings won the third set 25-15. NPU led 11-10 when the Vikings scored five-consecutive points to take a 16-10 lead and the guests never looked back in closing out the set. Benford had three kills in the set and Auty had five digs.

Wheaton returns to action next Tuesday when the Thunder host North Central in King Arena. The match between the Thunder and Cardinals will begin at 7:00 p.m.