BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball squad swept the field and increased the team's winning streak to four as they hosted the IWU Invitational Saturday, Jan. 29 inside of the Shirk Center. In the opening match of the day, the Titans swept Adrian College in convincing fashion (25-20, 25-11, 25-16). In the night cap, IWU came from behind to stun Concordia University-Chicago in a five set thriller (19-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-25, 15-10). IWU's record climbed to 4-1 after the invitational.
In the first set against Adrian, the Titans were trailing 14-10. However, a six point run for the Green and White erased the deficit. Sophomores Michael Eastman (Chicago, Ill.-Saint Ignatius) and
Alec Mucha's (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) kills highlighted this run to take a 16-14 advantage. IWU would never trail again in the set. Back-to-back Bulldog points cut the lead to 23-20. In the end, an Adrian miscue ended the first set and Illinois Wesleyan took the set, 25-20.
The Titans carried its come-from-behind momentum from the opening set and never trailed in the second set. With the Green and White manufacturing an early 10-6 lead, an eight point run put the set out of reach for the Bulldogs. In this run, IWU took advantage of four Adrian attack errors, kills by sophomore Julian Perez (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg), freshman
Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East), sophomore
KJ Johnson (Saint John, Ind.-Marian Catholic), and an Eastman ace. An Adrian service error would end the second set, 25-11.
The third set featured back-and-forth play that saw the Titans clinging to a slim 13-12 advantage. The Green and White earned the next eight-of-ten points to stretch the lead to 21-14 as the IWU offense found its stride. The Bulldogs tried to mount a late comeback, but ultimately fell to the Titans after an attack error ended all hope for Adrian as the Green and White took the set, 25-16, and the match, 3-0.
As a team, Illinois Wesleyan set a new program record for attack percentage as the offense hit at a .363 clip. The team's previous high was .237 at Rockford University, Feb. 22, 2021.
Eastman generated a match-high 13 kills. Johnson and Perez tallied 10 and 9 kills, respectively.
Freshman setter Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) set a match-high with 19 assists while sophomore
Bradley Benson (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont Township) garnered 14.
On the defensive end, Johnson carried a match-high seven digs while Eastman and DiCosola tabbed six and five, respectively.
IWU saw advantages in kills (41-20), aces (6-1), blocks (8-5), assists (37-18), and digs (28-22). The team earned a .363 hitting percentage compared to the Bulldog's -.027 mark.
In the team's second match of the day, Illinois Wesleyan took on Concordia-Chicago and defeated the Cougars in five sets.
The opening set featured back-and-forth action. Back-to-back Cougar attack errors gave IWU a slim 10-9 advantage early on. Concordia would tack on several points before a Kougan kill forced a CU timeout with the Titans trailing 18-15. However, the timeout did little to stop the Cougar momentum as Concordia rattled off the final three points to take set one, 25-19.
Throughout the second set, no team would see a lead greater than four points. A Concordia attack error would knot the score at 10 apiece. Later on in the set, back-to-back Eastman kills pushed the Titans lead to 21-18. The Cougars would not go quietly as they closed the gap to 24-23. However, a CU ball handling error would prove to be costly as IWU took a close, 25-23 set to even the match at one game apiece.
After a thrilling second set, the Green and White came out of the huddle and found themselves in a deep deficit, 10-3. The Fightin' Titans fought their way to cut into the Cougar lead to make the set score 20-18. However, the slow start proved to be too much to overcome as Concordia ended the third set with a kill to defeat IWU, 25-22.
Just like the Rockford match earlier this season, Illinois Wesleyan is no stranger to being down 2-1. With the Green and White owning a 5-4 advantage, the Titans would never relinquish the lead as the team used a massive seven point run to push the lead to 14-5. This run featured three straight kills by freshman Ryan Myers (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.-Stevenson) and two Cougar errors. With a comfortable lead in hand, Eastman would finish off the fourth set with a kill as the Titans produced a 25-15 victory.
The fifth and decisive set was tied at 10 all and Concordia would never score again. Three kills by three different Titans and two Cougar errors proved to be the difference as IWU took set five and the match, 15-10.
Eastman ended the match en route to a double-double with a program-tying effort of 23 kills and a team-high 12 digs. Perez and Johnson tacked on 11 and nine kills, respectively.
Benson produced a match-high 20 assists in his performance. DiCosola notched 13 assists and sophomore Dominic Bennett (Lockport, Ill.-Plainfield Central) added 11.
Illinois Wesleyan saw advantages in kills (56-54) and assists (52-50).
The Green and While will continue their homestand with a non-conference matchup with Edgewood College, Tuesday, Feb. 1. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside the Shirk Center.
