Chicago, Ill. - The Wheaton volleyball team returned to action on Wednesday in a key CCIW matchup at North Park. Wheaton battled the Vikings (8-17, 0-7 CCIW) in five sets as the Thunder earned the 3-2 victory. Wheaton opened with a 25-21 victory in the first set, and North Park picked up a 25-23 win in the second set. The Thunder took a 2-1 lead with a 25-15 win in the fourth set to even the match at 2-2. The Thunder put the Vikings away with a 15-8 victory in the fifth set.
Wheaton improves to 10-17 overall with a 3-4 record in CCIW play. The Wheaton win tonight puts Wheaton in sixth place with one Thunder match remaining in the regular season. Wheaton's regular season finale next Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. against Carroll in King Arena will play a key role in determining if Wheaton can earn one of the six spots in the upcoming CCIW Women's Volleyball Championship.
Four Thunder players had double digits in kills tonight as the team registered 64 kills, with 15 errors on 164 errors as Wheaton had a .299 attack percentage as a team.
Mary Hamann had 14 kills, with just one error on 21 attempts, as she posted a sparkling .619 attack percentage.
Mary Patrick also had 14 kills in posting a .273 attack percentage.
Sydney Overweg tallied 12 kills, with just one error on 25 attempts.
Chelsea Poskocil also had 12 kills, and
Heidi Horan had nine kills.
Karalyn Osborne recorded 57 assists for the Thunder. As a team, the Thunder recorded nine service aces, highlighted by four aces for Horan.
Poskocil led the Thunder with 22 digs and libero
Avery Nance added 20 digs. Osborne tallied 11 digs, while Horan and Alaina Nino each had 10 digs. Overweg had a team-high three total blocks.
The Thunder won the first set 25-21. The Vikings took an early 6-3 lead, however, the Thunder rallied with six-consecutive points to take a 9-6 lead. Wheaton never trailed in the set after the Thunder pulled ahead with the 6-0 rally. Wheaton had 16 kills in the set, posting a .310 attack percentage. Patrick and Poskocil each tallied four kills in the set, while Hamann added three kills. Osborne had 15 assists in the set, while Nance had seven digs.
The Vikings won the second set 25-23. The hosts jumped out to an 8-3 and never trailed in the second set. Patrick and Hamann each had four kills in the set, while Osborne had 13 assists.
Wheaton took a 2-1 lead in the match by winning the third set 25-15. The set was tied at 2-2 when Wheaton recorded a 6-2 run to take an 8-4 lead and pull away for good in the set. A service ace by Nino started the key Thunder run. Horan led Wheaton with four kills in the set as she posted a .444 attack percentage. Osborne had 12 kills in the set. Horan had three of her four service aces in the third set and Nino added two aces. The guests had 14 kills in the set, with just one error on 28 attempts as they posted a match-high .464 attack percentage.
North Park never trailed in winning the fourth set 25-20. Hamann and Overweg each tallied three kills in the set. Osborne recorded 10 assists, while Poskocil recorded five digs.
Wheaton won the decisive fifth set 15-8. Patrick recorded a kill for the first point as the guests never trailed. The Thunder led 4-3 when Poskocil recorded a kill that started a 4-1 Thunder run as Wheaton led 8-4. The Thunder had eight kills in the set as the guests posted a .368 attack percentage in the set.
