Elmhurst, Ill. – The Wheaton volleyball traveled to Elmhurst University on Wednesday night for a critical CCIW contest. The Thunder rallied by winning the final three sets to win 3-2.  Elmhurst convincingly won the first set 25-12, followed by a 25-16 victory in the second set. Wheaton responded with a convincing 25-13 victory in the third set and the Thunder rallied for a 25-22 win in the fourth set. The Thunder impressed in winning the fifth set 15-7 to secure the 3-2 victory.

Wheaton improves to 20-9 overall for the season. Tonight's win secures the first 20-win season for the Thunder since a 24-12 campaign in 2013. Wheaton is now 3-4 in CCIW play this season and part of a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference standings as tonight's win improves Wheaton chances for making the six-team CCIW Tournament that begins the week of November 10.

Senior Jordan Benford led the Thunder with a match-high 16 kills tonight at Elmhurst, adding nine digs. Ashton Major recorded nine kills and Meghan Shah added five kills.

Setter Lacey Higgins had 34 assists tonight and she contributed a match-high 17 digs. Shah and Kennedy Kemp each had three service aces for the Thunder.

Elmhurst won the first set 25-12 and the hosts won the second set 25-16.

Wheaton came through in the third set with a 25-13 victory. Elmhurst led the set 6-2 when Wheaton responded with seven-consecutive points to take a 9-6 lead. The Thunder never trailed after that point. Benford led all players in the set with five kills and Higgins had 11 assists.

Wheaton won the fourth set 25-22. Elmhurst led for much of the set with advantages of 10-5 and 16-10 for the hosts. The Bluejays led 20-13 when the Thunder responded with four consecutive points to trim the hosts' lead to 20-17. The two teams battled to a 22-20 Elmhurst lead. A kill by Benford cut the Bluejays' lead to 22-21 and then four-consecutive Elmhurst attacking errors allowed Wheaton to win the set 25-22 to send the match to a decisive fifth set.  Benford again had five kills in the set and Higgins added eight assists.

Wheaton never trailed in winning the fifth set 15-7. The set was tied 5-5 when a kill by Major sparked five-straight points for the Thunder to give Wheaton a 10-5 lead. Elmhurst countered with two points to cut Wheaton's lead to 10-7, however the Thunder again responded with five-consecutive points to win the set 15-7. Wheaton's 5-0 run to close out the match started with a Grace Autry service ace, included two-consecutive kills by Benford and ended with a pair of service aces by Shah.

Wheaton concludes its regular season next Tuesday night in King Arena when the Thunder host North Central at 7:00 p.m.