MARIAN, Wis. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team took part in the Marian Invite, Saturday, Feb. 12. The Green and White came back to defeat St. Norbert College in a thrilling five-set match (20-25, 23-25, 26-24, 25-19, 19-17). In the night cap, Marian University defeated the Titans in four sets (25-15, 23-25, 25-11, 25-18). After today's play, the Green and White remain at the .500 mark with a 5-5 overall record.

Trailing in the match two sets to one, the young and resilient team rallied off three straight points in the third set with a freshman Ryan Myers (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.-Stevenson) kill, a freshman Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) ace, and a Green Knight service error to take the early 8-6 lead. The set remained close with SNC at match point, leading 24-23. However, a wisely used timeout by head coach Brandon Mueller worked to perfection as the Green and White rallied for back-to-back-to-back kills by KJ Johnson (Saint John, Ind.-Marian Catholic), Myers, and sophomore Julian Perez (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg) to stun the Green Knights and to take the wild third set, 26-24. 

In the fourth set, IWU enjoyed a commanding 19-14 advantage after the Titan offense found its stride by connecting on 12 kills. As the Green Knights were starting to mount a comeback, the Titans exploded for a momentum shifting four point run to end all comeback hopes for SNC, en route to taking a 24-17 lead. The run featured back-to-back aces by sophomore Bradley Benson (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont Township). In the end, a Green Knight attack error led to a 25-19 set four Titan victory. 

The fifth and decisive set proved to be close, with neither team maintaining a lead greater than two points. The Titans tied the set at 10 apiece thanks to a Johnson service ace. With both teams facing match point on numerous occasions, the set remained tied at 17-17. However, back-to-back pressure filled kills by freshman Luke Hartke (Barrington, Ill.-Barrington) and Michael Eastman (Chicago, Ill.-St. Ignatius)  proved to be the difference as the Titans came back to stun St. Norbert 19-17 and took the match 3 sets to 2.

The Titans were led by Eastman with his third double-double of the year with a team-high 12 kills accompanied by 10 digs. 

Johnson nearly missed out on a double-double with his team-leading 13 digs and his eight kills.

Hartke recorded his first double-digit kill performance of his collegiate career with 11.

Benson notched a match-high 26 assists and a career-best five service aces. Freshman Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) dished out 15 assists.   

As a team, the Green and White enjoyed advantages in kills (49-43), aces (9-2), and assists (45-41). St. Norbert produced a cumulative hitting percentage of .088 while the Titans notched a .072 percentage. 

Marian took the first set convincingly, 25-15, but Illinois Wesleyan bounced back strong. 

The Titans came out of the huddle firing, snagging a quick 5-1 lead with kills from Hartke and Eastman, followed by a Johnson ace. This quick lead did little to slow down the Sabres as Marian turned the deficit into an advantage thanks to a five point run of their own. With IWU facing a deficit as large as four in the middle of the set, the Titans rattled off six of eight points to knot the score at 19 all. With Illinois Wesleyan at set point, another perfectly timed timeout from head coach Brandon Mueller drew up an Eastman kill to even the match at 1-1 with the Titans taking the close second set, 25-23. 

The Sabres closed things out from there taking the final two sets to hold off the Titans.

Eastman led the way offensively with his team-leading 14 kills. Hartke tabbed seven kills, while Johnson added five. 

In the assists department, Benson paced the Titans with his team-leading 23 assists.

Johnson set a match-high of 12 digs while Benson tabulated eight. 

Marian enjoyed advantages in kills (45-35), aces (8-3), blocks (12-4), assists (41-35), and digs (45-41). The Sabres defense held the Titans to a .078 hitting percentage while MC hit at a clip of .302 for the match.

The Green and White will begin College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play Tuesday, Feb. 15 with a date against Loras College, who is currently receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top-15 poll. The match is set for 7 p.m. inside of the Shirk Center.