ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team took on College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin rival, Augustana College, Tuesday, March 1, inside of Roy J. Carver Center. The Titans offense struggled from the start as the Vikings swept IWU in straight sets to up their record to 6-10 (1-4 CCIW), while Illinois Wesleyan's record slipped to 6-9 (1-4 CCIW).

Sophomore Julian Perez (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg) led the offensive attack with a team-high seven kills. Sophomore Michael Eastman (Chicago, Ill.-Saint Ignatius) and freshman Ryan Myers (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.-Stevenson) both notched six kills for the Green and White.

Sophomore Bradley Benson (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont Township) earned a team-high 13 assists while fellow setter, freshman Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) accumulated 10 assists on the evening.

On the defensive side, Myers led all Titans with his eight digs. Sophomore Blake McGlashan-Bryant (Hawthorne, Calif.-Mira Costa) and DiCosola both tallied six digs.

The Vikings earned advantages in kills (29-25), aces (5-2), blocks (8-3), assists (27-24), digs (46-40), and hitting percentage (.217-.020). 

In the opening set, Augie charged out to a commanding 10-4 lead and did not look back. A Perez kill, followed by a Viking error made the score 16-10, in favor of AC. IWU attempted to facilitate a comeback, however, the Augie defense thwarted that thought. The first set would come to a close on a Viking kill as the home team took the first set, 25-17.

Illinois Wesleyan worked to a comfortable 17-13 second set advantage. That lead would disappear as Augie rattled off six straight points to flip the script and take the lead 19-17. IWU would counter the run with a three point rally themselves thanks to a sophomore Freddy Gamarra (Hackensack, N.J.-Hackensack) kill, a sophomore Javier Romano (Prospect Heights, Ill.-Wheeling) ace, and an Eastman kill to take the slim 20-19 lead. AC mounted another six point run to stun the Titans by taking set two, 25-20.

The third set saw IWU owning a quick 4-2 lead. However, that would be the last time in the set that the Titans would see a lead. A five-point Viking run created a 7-4 cushion for AC. Augie pushed the lead to 17-9 late in the set. Another Augustana kill would end the set and the match, 25-17, as the Vikings would complete the straight set sweep.

The Green and White will travel to Chicago to take on CCIW opponent North Park, Wednesday, March 9. First serve is set for 7 p.m.