Naperville, Ill. – The Wheaton volleyball team returned to CCIW action on Wednesday with a conference match at North Central (11-5, 1-1). The host Cardinals defeated the Thunder 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 25-22, 25-19).
Tonight's contest in Naperville marked the sixth-consecutive match away from King Arena for Wheaton (9-7, 0-3 CCIW) and third-straight road CCIW match to open conference play. The Thunder return home next Wednesday to host eighth-ranked Millikin at 7:00 p.m.
Ashton Major led the with 12 kills, with just one error on 19 attempts as she compiled an impressive .579 hitting percentage. Freshman
Katherine Adkison tallied eight kills, with senior
Caroline Capps adding seven kills.
Emerson Traweek and
Jordan Benford each recorded five kills.
Lacey Higgins distributed 21 assists, with 13 for
Paige Syswerda. Libero
Grace Autry led the guests with 19 digs. Adkison added 13 digs and Higgins tallied 12. Capps had a team-high three service aces, and major had three total blocks.
The Cardinals won the first set 25-23. The opening set was tied 5-5 when the Thunder put together a 7-2 run to gain a 12-7 lead. The Thunder continued to maintain their lead with a 16-12 lead. Wheaton led 21-19. The Cardinals tied the match at 21-21 with a pair of kills by NCC's Abby Buban. The hosts gained a 22-21 lead on a block, but Traweek had a kill to tie the set at 22-22. The teams traded points for a 23-23 tie. North Central completed the rally by winning the final two points to earn the 25-23 victory. Traweek had a team-high three kills in the set, and Capps tallied three assists.
Wheaton won the second set 25-19. Wheaton scored the first three points and never trailed in the set. The largest Thunder lead in the set was a 10-point bulge at 19-9. Major recorded a team-best four kills in the set, with six assists for Higgins, and seven digs recorded by Autry.
North Central won the third set, 25-22. The score was tied seven times in the set, with three lead changes. North Central led 7-6 when Wheaton responded with a 9-2 run to give the Thunder a 15-9 lead. Wheaton had a 19-13 lead when the Cardinals responded with eight-consecutive points to take a 21-19 advantage. The set was tied 22-22 when NCC closed it out with the final three points for the 25-22 win. Wheaton recorded 17 kills in the set, with five by Adkison and four recorded by Benford. Higgins had 11 assists for the guests and Autry had seven digs.
North Central closed out the match by winning the fourth set 25-19. The Cardinals jumped out to an 11-5 lead and maintained their lead for the rest of the set. Major had three kills for the guests in the final set.
