BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team claimed victory over Millikin University in its last game of its inaugural season Saturday, April 3, inside the Shirk Center. The Titans took the game in five sets with scores of 25-18, 21-25, 25-19, 26-28, and 15-11. The Titans finished their season 3-14 over and 2-10 in the CCIW, while Millikin finished the season 0-13 (0-12 CCIW).

Freshman KJ Johnson (Saint John, Ind.-Marian Catholic) led the Titans with 12 kills and a game-high 15 digs. Chicago native, Michael Eastman (Chicago, Ill.-Saint Ignatius) followed closely behind with a total of 11 kills and led the team with three aces. Alec Mucha (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) finished the night with nine kills. Julian Perez (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg) tallied sevne kills, while Freddy Gamarra (Hackensack, N.J.-Hackensack) and Ethan Scott (Wheaton, Ill.-Wheaton North) put up five kills apiece in a balanced effort.

Titan setters Dominic Bennett (Lockport, Ill.-Plainfield Central) and Bradley Benson (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont Township) aided the Titans with 24 and 17 assists, respectively. Benson collected two serving aces while Bennett put up one. Defensively, Adam Blackmore (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) registered 10 digs for the Titans. 

During the first set, the Titans trailed 11-8 before a big kill from Eastman kicked off a six point run, leading to a 14-8 IWU advantage and ultimately a 25-21 set win.

In a back and forth exchange in set two, MU managed to edge IWU, 25-21, to tie the series 1-1. 

The Titans early 5-0 setback in set three was not enough for MU, as the Green and White took the lead, 18-17 off a Big Blue service error. From there the Titans held off MU to 19 points and ran away to 25 in set three taking the series 2-1 for the Titans. 

The Titans trailed in the early goings of set three, but claimed an 18-17 lead on a Big Blue service error late in the set. From there, IWU closed the set on a 7-2 run. The 25-19 win put the Titans up in the match, 2-1.

After Millikin evened the match at two sets apiece with an extra-point win in the fourth, the Titans stole the momentum on a block by Gamarra and Mucha to take an 11-10 lead. Back-to-back Big Blue attack errors extended the IWU advantage to 13-10. A kill by Eastman and a service ace by Bennett finished off the victory, 15-11, to give Illinois Wesleyan the match in five sets.

The Illinois Wesleyan men's volleyball team finished their inaugural season under first-year head coach Brandon Mueller and assistant coach Grace Redman with a 3-14 overall record and closed out the year with the program's first victory inside the Shirk Center.