Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder volleyball team picked up its first CCIW win on Tuesday night as the Thunder topped Augustana, 3-0. The Thunder won the first and third sets 25-21 and the second set was a convincing 25-15 Wheaton victory.
Jordan Benford led Wheaton with 14 kills, posting a .450 attack percentage, and she added nine digs.
Ashton Major tallied nine kills, with no attacking errors as she posted a .562 attack percentage. Parris Griffin had eight kills and Katherin Adkison added five.
Setter
Lacey Higgins had 23 assists, and libero
Grace Autry had a match-high 15 digs. Griffin led the Thunder with a match-high three total blocks.
Wheaton scored the first four points in the first set and never trailed in earning the 25-21 victory. The set was tied on three occasions; the final tie was 19-19. Wheaton closed out the set with a 6-2 run to win the set 25-21. Benford had five kills in the set, with no errors, on nine attempts as she had a .556 attack percentage. Higgins had nine assists in the set, and Autry added eight digs. All three of Griffin's assisted blocks in the match came in the third set.
The Thunder won the second set 25-15. The set was tied at 8-8 when the Thunder put together an 8-2 run that included two kills by Griffin. Wheaton led 18-13 as the hosts again had a run to close out the set as Wheaton used a 7-2 run to win the set 25-15. Major had two kills in the final run of set. Benford had five kills in the set, on just six attempts as she recorded an .833 attack percentage. Major also impressed with four kills on four attempts with a .667 attack percentage. Higgins had six assists in the set and
Reese Donahoe added five. Autry contributed five digs.
Wheaton won a tightly contested third set 25-21 as there were nine ties in the set, along with three lead changes. The final set was tied 19-19 when an Augustana attacking error was followed by an epic service ace by
Miriam Pozdol-Niego to give Wheaton a 21-19 lead. The hosts utilized a 4-1 run to close out the set and earn the 25-21 victory. Benford had four kills in the set and Major added three in posting a .750 attack percentage. Higgins contributed eight assists for the Thunder.
Wheaton remains at home on Friday for a pair of non-conference matches as part of a Homecoming tri-match. The Thunder face Beloit at 3:00 p.m. and the evening concludes at 7:00 p.m. against IIT. Beloit and IIT are slated to play at 5:00 p.m.
