Carrying the momentum of last week's 3-0 sweep of Benedictine University, North Park sought to continue its hot streak Tuesday night as the Vikings opened College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play with visiting Illinois Wesleyan.

A second set victory energized the entertaining student section crowd, but North Park unfortunately couldn't sustain the advantage as it fell 17-25, 25-23, 23-25, 10-25.

The freshmen duo of Emily Farwell and Lauren Wiltsie led the Vikings' net attack as they finished with 15 and 14 kills, respectively while sophomore Darby Switzer dished 28 assists. Senior libero Karen Rosales was solid defensively as she totaled 25 digs. Wiltsie added 20 digs and Mariah Rosito finished with 12.

After IWU took a one set lead, the Titans seemed poised to move ahead 2-0 after they posted a 23-19 lead in the second set, but a North Park timeout re-energized the hosts and they overcame the deficit using a 6-0 scoring run on three kills from Sarah Toth, a kill from Farwell and a Titans' hitting error.

The third set provided just as much excitement as North Park overcame a 20-15 deficit to tie the set a 20-20 and later capture a 23-21 lead after on a block assist from Hayley Brake and Farwell, but Illinois Wesleyan took advantage of two NP hitting errors and a service ace to close out the last four points. Kyleigh Block led the Titans with 16 kills.

North Park (7-9, 0-1) returns to action Oct. 7 when it continues CCIW play at Elmhurst College for a 7 p.m. match.