Wheaton, Ill. – The Thunder volleyball team won a dramatic and important CCIW match at home against North Park on Friday night in King Arena. Wheaton earned a 3-2 victory against the Vikings (16-6, 2-2 CCIW) as the Thunder improve to 19-7 overall and 2-2 in CCIW.

North Park won the first set 25-15 and Wheaton responded with a 26-24 win in the second set. The Vikings won the third set 25-19 and Wheaton countered with a 25-20 victory in the fourth set. The Thunder closed out the match with a 15-9 victory in the decisive fifth set.

Wheaton honored its seniors at tonight's match for its "Senior Night" activities. Senior outside hitter Jordan Benford made the most of the evening as she recorded a career-high 18 kills in posting a .304 hitting percentage. Sydney Overweg recorded nine kills with a .333 hitting percentage. Mary Patrick and Ashton Major each tallied six kills and Paris Griffin added five.

Senior setter Lacey Higgins distributed 36 assists for the hosts. Senior Libero Grace Autry recorded a team-high 15 digs and Benford tallied 14. Overweg had four total blocks and Benford had three.
North Park never trailed in the first set as the Vikings won 25-15. The guests jumped out to a 10-2 lead and never looked back.

Wheaton won the tightly contested second set 26-24. The Thunder led late in the set, 20-16. The Vikings battled back to tie the set at 24-24. A terrific kill by Benford gave Wheaton a 25-24 lead and a miscue by the Vikings secured the 26-24 win for the Thunder. Benford had four kills in the second set, while Griffin and Overweg each had three. Higgins had nine assists in the set, and Autry tallied five digs.

North Park won the third set 25-19. The set was tied nine times and saw three lead changes. The final tie was at 9-9 and the Vikings used an 8-2 run to take a 17-12 lead. The 25-19 lead in the set's final result was the last time NPU led in the match.

Wheaton never trailed in winning the fourth set 25-20. The Thunder jumped out to an 11-5 lead in tying the match score at 2-2. Benford was sensational in the fourth set as she had eight of Wheaton's 16 kills and recorded a .571 hitting percentage. She had the eight kills on 14 attempts with no errors. Higgins had 14 of Wheaton's 16 assists in the set.

The Thunder scored the first six points in the fifth set to close out the match with a 15-9 victory. Benford led the Thunder with three kills in the final set and Patrick had two. Higgins had seven assists on Wheaton's eight kills, while Meghan Shah tallied a set-high five digs.

Wheaton resumes action next Wednesday night in another key conference match at Carthage. The match on October 22 in Kenosha is the first of three-straight CCIW road contests for the Thunder.