Chicago, Ill. – The Wheaton volleyball team won both matches for the Thuner at the Illinois Tech Triangular on Saturday afternoon. The Thunder defeated Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) and Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in two impressive performances. The Thunder improved to 8-16 after the two victories.
Wheaton handled business in the first against Milwaukee School of Engineering. The Thunder completed the sweep, winning the first set 25-13, the second, 25-16, and the third, 25-17. The first set began evenly until Wheaton went on a 8-0 scoring run that contained three kills by the current CCIW Offensive Player of the Week, Mary Patrick.
The impressive effort against the Raiders was led by sophomore duo Mary Patrick and Mary Hamman who finished the contest with nine kills each. Freshman Chelsea Poskocil also contributed five kills to help the offense. Senior Karalyn Osborne was on point, assisting 26 of her teammates throughout the three sets. Avery Nance was huge for the Thunder on defense and offense. The freshman libero had five aces and dug out 13 Raider hits. Wheaton also received help from senior Sydney Overweg who finished with three blocks.
The Thunder continued to roll through the second match of the day, defeating Illinois Institute of Technology in four sets. The first set saw both teams trade blows. Wheaton was down 20-24 late in the set but rallied to win four straight points to knot the score at 24 apiece. This run was helped by Junior Kathrine Adkison and Chealsa Poskocil who both had crucial kills. Wheaton won set two 25-15 but fell short in set three, losing 18-25. Wheaton then secured the win with a 25-17 fourth set victory.
Chelsea Poskocil poured in 14 kills for the Thunder, followed closely by Kathrine Adkison, who contributed 13. The majority of Wheaton's 58 kiils in the match were assisted by senior Karalyn Osborne who had 48 assists in the victory.. Avery Nance continued her defense from the opening match with 25 more digs followed by Poskocil who had 17.
The Thunder look to build off these two wins next week as they host Millikin at King Arena on Wednesday, October 21. The match against the Big Blue started at 7:00 p.m.
