WAUKESHA, Wis. -  Successful teams often have a knack for stepping up the intensity during critical momentum-shifting stretches, winning pressure-packed points and finishing with authority.
The Carroll University women's volleyball team perfectly exemplified that tenacious approach as it defeated Wheaton College 25-16, 25-18, 20-25, 25-22 in a College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin opener at Van Male Athletic Complex on Friday night.
It was the first home-court dual meet of the season for Carroll, which captured its sixth consecutive victory in front of the large, enthusiastic crowd to improve to 10-4 overall.
Trailing 20-17 in the fourth set, the Pioneers erased the deficit by responding with what proved to be a decisive 8-2 run - highlighted by a momentum-building stretch of six unanswered points (including three kills by senior outside hitter Josie Wierzal (Frankfort, Ill.), two kills by junior outside hitter Kylie Mueller (Fox Lake, Ill.) and a service ace by senior middle blocker Karley Wolf  (Roselle, Ill.)
"It was a good team win and everyone played their best tonight (referring to the offense, defense and setters)," said Mueller, who tied the contest 20-20 on a thunderous right-handed spike from the left side and finished with nine kills in the contest. "After the tough third set, we really wanted to bounce back and worked hard to find the energy to do it. We have a tendency to take matches to a fifth set so it was nice to break that habit, take control and finish it out."
Mueller delivered a kill to extend the lead to 24-22 and sophomore middle blocker Rachel Noonan  (Crystal Lake, Ill.) - who recently earned CCIW Defensive Player of the Week honors -  had a kill to put an exclamation point on the victory.
"Throughout the night, we played with a lot of emotion on every point, fed off the energy of the big crowd and walked away with a great victory," Mueller said. "Coming off the big win against St. Norbert on Tuesday, it was exciting to be able to carry it over into the first conference match of the season. This should give us a lot of momentum so now we just want to keep it going."
Junior outside hitter Cassidy Mrotek (Manitowoc, Wis.) contributed a team-high 12 kills and nine digs for the Pioneers, who generated 58 kills with a .295 hitting percentage and 10 service aces in the showdown.
Junior middle blocker Erika Dunnam (Shawano, Wis.) collected 11 kills while Wolf followed with 10 kills, three blocks and three aces.
Senior defensive specialist Trystam Carr (Charlottesville, Va.) had 10 digs and two aces for Carroll, which showcased its discipline by finishing with 13 or more kills in each set. Noonan chipped in three blocks with junior setter Jennilyn Joy Cave (Bolingbrook, Ill.) collecting 25 assists and two aces. Junior setter Emma Przeslicke (Evergreen Park, Ill.) added 22 assists and 10 digs.
Carroll head coach Becca Saal was proud of how her inspired team made the most of playing its CCIW opener on its home court.
"It was a good feeling to come back home for the first time this season and get our first conference victory," said Saal, in her ninth year at the helm. "We're playing a lot better than at the beginning of the season, eliminating the errors and continuing to make good, smart decisions each time we step on the floor. Even though we haven't played perfectly on each and every point, we've done a nice job of playing within ourselves and capitalizing on the important moments. When the opportunities have been there, we've been able to maintain our aggressiveness and take advantage of the situation.
"In the fourth set, instead of becoming tense when it was close, we played loose and made the most of each point. It was a victory that showcased the progress we've made and how we are moving forward. I was very proud of the effort."
Freshman outside hitter Colleen Smith finished with a meet-high 17 kills for Wheaton, which dropped to 9-3 overall. Kelly Thornton added 11 kills and 17 assists for the Thunder.