BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team fell in four sets to reigning NCAA III Men's Volleyball Champion, Carthage College, Saturday, Feb. 26, inside the Shirk Center. The Titans (5-8, 1-3 CCIW) won the first set 26-24, earning their first set win over a ranked opponent in program history, before falling 25-17, 25-16, and 25-11 to the seventh-ranked Firebirds (8-3, 4-0 CCIW).

Freshman Ryan Myers (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.-Stevenson) paced the Green and White with a team-leading seven kills. Freshman Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) produced five kills.

Freshman Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) accumulated nine assists while his setting counterpart, sophomore Bradley Benson (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont Township) was one behind with his eight on the afternoon.

Defensively, sophomore Micheal Eastman (Chicago, Ill.-Saint Ignatius) led the way with seven digs while DiCosola tallied six.

The Firebirds compiled advantages in kills (50-24), aces (13-2), blocks (9-4), assists (45-22), digs (45-31), and hitting percentage (.308 - .043).

In the opening set, Carthage raced out to an early 8-3 lead taking advantage of five Green and White errors. However, the tides turned when the score was 11-8 in favor of CC. The Titans used a well-timed five-point rally to take the 13-11 lead with kills by sophomore Julian Perez (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg), Myers, and a service ace by Eastman. After back-and-forth play, the reigning champs retook the slim advantage, 19-17. With Carthage at set point, three straight Firebird errors erased the deficit as the Titans' went on to take the first set, 26-24.

The second set proved to be close play up until the halfway mark. With Carthage clinging to a 13-12 lead, the Firebirds reached into their bag of tricks to score the next eight of 10 points to open up a commanding 21-14 lead. The resilient Green and White team attempted a comeback. However, the Firebirds extinguished the attempt by taking the second set 25-17. 

With the match even at one game apiece, Carthage manufactured a quick 16-8 lead. With the score 24-14, the Titans notched back-to-back kills by sophomore Javier Romano (Prospect Heights, Ill.-Wheeling) and Eastman to cut the deficit to 24-16. CC went on to win the third set, 25-16.

In the fourth set, the Titans could not overcome a quick 6-0 deficit as Carthage won the fourth set, and the match, 25-11.

Illinois Wesleyan will start a crucial three-game road trip. The Green and White's first stop is to Rock Island, Ill. to battle with CCIW rival Augustana College. First serve is set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1.