AURORA, Ill. - A slow offensive start for the Titans and a strong Aurora University defense plagued the Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team Thursday evening, Feb. 10, inside of Thornton Gymnasium on the campus of AU. The Spartans swept the Green and White in straight sets (25-17, 25-23, 26-24) to improve to 3-2 on the year, while IWU's record dipped to the .500 mark at 4-4.
The Spartans' towering defense held Illinois Wesleyan to a -.012 hitting percentage, while AU manufactured a .213 percentage for the match. Aurora saw advantages in kills (30-24), blocks (7-4), assists (26-22), and digs (27-24).
Sophomore Micheal Eastman (Chicago, Ill.-Saint Ignatius) notched match-highs with eight kills and five service aces.
Freshman Luke Hartke (Barrington, Ill.-Barrington) accumulated six kills and a team-high three blocks for the Green and White.
On the defensive end, sophomore KJ Johnson (Saint John, Ind.-Marian Catholic) led the team with six digs.
In the opening frame, the Spartans owned an early 7-5 advantage. However, an IWU service error and four straight Green and White attack errors widened the AU lead to 12-5. With a comfortable lead in hand, the Titans could never gain traction to crawl back into the set. Aurora took the opening set 25-17 after a John McCormack kill.
The Green and White flipped the script in the second set, charging to an early 6-1 lead via kills by Eastman, Hartke, and sophomore Julian Perez (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg) and three Spartan miscues. With the score 18-14, in favor of the Titans, AU rattled off six of the next seven points to take their first lead of the set, 20-19. Aurora never lost sight of the lead en route to a 25-23 second set victory.
The third set saw back-and-forth action. The Titans owned a 16-13 lead going into the latter half of the set. The Spartans used a timely five point run to regain the 18-16 advantage. The Titans then rattled off four straight of their own to cling to a 23-21 lead. Ultimately, Aurora manufactured five of the next six points to stun the Titans and to take the third set and the match, 26-24.
The Green and White will have a short turnaround before heading north to Fond Du Lac, Wis. to participate in the Marian Tri, Saturday, Feb. 12. The team will tangle with St. Norbert College at 10 a.m., followed by taking on the hosts, Marian University, at 5:30 p.m.
