BLOOMINGTON, Illinois — The Wabash volleyball team’s season-opening winning streak ended at eight games on Sunday after splitting a pair of matches played at Illinois Wesleyan University. The Little Giants won its eighth straight game to start the season with a 3-1 victory over Benedictine University before falling 3-2 to the host Titans in five sets.
Wabash (8-1) fell behind early to Benedictine (5-5) in the opening match after losing the first set to the Eagles 25-21. The Little Giants rallied to win the following three sets to claim the 3-1 victory, starting with a score of 25-21 in the second set. Wabash finished with 25-16 and 25-20 wins in the final two sets to claim its eighth win to start the season
Bawibawi Thang recorded 20 kills with a .349 hitting percentage against Benedictine. Zev Wolverton added 13 kills, and Patrick Volk produced 12 kills. Will Beikes gave out 47 assists. Thang also led the team with 15 digs. Libero Piotr Wolan scored 12 digs for the Little Giants.
Wabash lost the first two sets in the second match against Illinois Wesleyan (9-3) by 25-19 and 25-13 scores before rallying for a 25-21 victory in the third set. A 25-20 win for the Little Giants in the fourth set evened the overall score at 2-2. The Little Giants fell behind 5-2 in the final set and were never able to draw even, losing 15-10 in the fifth set to suffer their first overall loss of the season.
Thang paced the offense with 18 kills against IWU. Jackson Leeper scored 15 kills for Wabash. Beikes produced 46 assists. Walan and Thang each recorded 12 digs for the Little Giants.
Wabash returns to action on Thursday with a 7 p.m. home match against Westminster College from Missouri.
