Wheaton, Ill. – The 2024 Marilyn Scribner Invitational closed on Saturday in King Arena. The host Thunder won their opening match 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-11) against Lawrence University. Wheaton closed out the tournament with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-18). Wheaton improves to 8-2 overall with three wins this weekend at its home tournament. The 8-2 effort is the best record for Thunder volleyball through the first 10 games of a season since the 2019 team also started 8-2.
In Saturday morning's win against Lawrence, the Thunder won the first set 25-21, picked up a 25-20 win in the second set and closed with a come-from-behind 25-11 victory in the third set.
Caroline Capps tallied 14 kills in the match, posting a .440 attack percentage.
Katherine Adkison recorded nine kills, with seven apiece for
Ashton Major and
Emerson Traweek.
Lacey Higgins distributed 24 assists in the win, and
Paige Syswerda added nine. Higgins had a team-high three service aces, with two apiece for Capps, Traweek and
Grace Autry. Adkison led the Thunder with 13 digs and Autry added 10. Major had five total blocks and Capps tallied four.
In the 25-21 victory in the first set, the score was tied seven times with three lead changes. The final tie was at 19-19. Wheaton held a narrow 22-21 lead when the hosts rattled off four-consecutive points to close out the set in a 25-21 win. Capps led Wheaton with four kills as Traweek and Major each had three. Higgins distributed eight assists, and Autry had five digs. Adkison and Higgins each had two aces in the set.
Wheaton won the second set 25-20. Wheaton led 10-5 early in the set. Lawrence battled back to tie the score at 16-16. Wheaton led by one point at 20-19 when the hosts responded with a 5-1 advantage to win the set 25-20. Adkison led Wheaton with six kills in the set, Capps added four. Higgins had eight assists, with two service aces each for Capps and Autry. Adkison had eight digs in the set and Autry added seven.
Wheaton closed out the match with a 25-11 victory in the third set. Lawrence jumped out to a 7-5 lead in the set. The set was tied at 9-9 when Wheaton scored eight-consecutive points to gain a substantial 18-9 advantage. Lawrence responded with two points to cut Wheaton's lead to 18-11, then Wheaton scored the final seven points of the match to earn the 25-11 victory. Capps tallied six kills in the third set to lead the Thunder, with eight kills for Higgins. Adkison had five digs in the final set and Higgins had four.
In Wheaton's 3-0 win against Concordia Chicago, the Thunder won the first set 25-13 and won the next two sets by identical scores of 25-18. Capps had another impressive outing with a .524 attack percentage, making a team-high 13 kills. Adkison recorded 10 kills, with just one error, on 20 attempts for a .450 attack percentage.
Jordan Benford and
Sydney Overweg each added six kills.
Higgins had 25 assists with 10 for
Paige Syswerda. Adkison had five service aces, and Traweek had four aces. Traweek led the Thunder with 14 digs and Adkison (PICTURED LEFT) had 10.
In the 25-13 victory in the first set, the set was tied at 5-5 early. Wheaton responded with a 6-1 run to take an 11-6 lead. Wheaton maintained a sizeable lead to win the opening set against the Cougars. Adkison had seven kills in the set, with a .778 attack percentage, while Higgins had 11 assists. Traweek collected nine digs in the set.
In the second set, a 25-18 Thunder victory, the Cougars scored the first three points to gain a 3-0 lead. Weaton gained its first lead of the set at 6-5 and built up to a 13-8 lead. The Thunder maintained the lead for the remainder of the set to earn the 25-18 victory. Capps tallied six kills, with seven assists for Higgins.
The Thunder won the third set 25-18. Concordia again jumped out to a 3-0 lead to begin the set. Wheaton responded with a 7-1 run to take a 7-4 lead and the hosts never trailed in the set after that. The Thunder led 13-12 when the hosts scored seven-consecutive points to break the set open with a 20-12 lead. Overweg, Capps and Benford each recorded a team-best three kills in the set. Higgins had seven assists, while she and Adkison each had three aces in the set. Traweek led the Thunder with eight digs.
Wheaton opens its 2024 CCIW schedule on Wednesday night at Illinois Wesleyan. The match in Bloomington is the first three-consecutive conference matches on the road for Wheaton.
