BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - With the Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball squad's first-ever College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin playoff appearance hopes on the line, the Green and White will welcome Augustana College to the Shirk Center Sunday, March 27. The CCIW match is set for 2 p.m. Coming into the match, IWU owns an overall record of 7-13 (2-8 CCIW), while the Vikings, who will play a non-conference match Friday, sits at 6-14 (2-7 CCIW). 

As it currently stands, the winner of this ever important match will be tied for fourth place in the league standings with North Park as each team will have earned three conference victories. NPU is slated to play Millikin Saturday, March 26. 

These two CCIW rivals have met on the court a total of three previous occasions that has seen the Vikings come out victorious in all three meetings.

The Green and White last took to the hardwood Wednesday, March 23, against the reigning NCAA DIII Champions and CCIW foe, No. 3 Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis. The Firebirds defeated the resilient Titans in straight sets to remain unblemished in CCIW play.

AC most recently squared off against No. 4 North Central College Wednesday, March 23. The Cardinals won a hard-fought four-set battle. However, Augustana is set to take on non-conference opponent, St. Ambrose, Friday at 7 p.m.

For CCIW matches, the Green and White is fourth with 1.25 service aces per set and ranks fifth in the league in assists per set (8.97) and kills per set (9.69). Additionally, IWU checks in at sixth with a .129 hitting percentage. 

Within the highly-competitive CCIW, sophomore Michael Eastman (Chicago, Ill.-Saint Ignatius) sits inside the top-10 rankings for kills with 2.53 kills per set inside of CCIW play, which comes in at 10th-best. 

For the season, Eastman leads the team with 204 kills. Sophomore Julian Perez (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg) has accumulated 130 kills.

Sophomore Bradley Benson (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont Township) tops the team with his 271 total assists, while freshman Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) has earned 247 assists.

On the defensive end, sophomore KJ Johnson (Saint John, Ind.-Marian Catholic) has accumulated 127 digs. Freshman Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) tops the team with 45 blocks. 

Live stats for the match can be found by clicking here. Additionally, a live video of the duel can be found by clicking here.