SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team concluded the first day of the University of California-Santa Cruz Slug Slam Tournament Friday, Jan. 20. The Titans opened the tournament with a loss to California Lutheran University in three sets with scores of 25-11, 25-22, 25-18. IWU fell to Fontbonne University in five sets to complete day one of the Slug Slam (25-19, 26-28, 25-20, 14-25, 15-11). 

The match against Cal Lutheran saw the Titans held to a .044 attack percentage, compared to the Kingsmen's .207 clip. IWU was outmatched in kills (31-24), assists (31-21), digs (39-31), and aces (9-2), but matched its opponents six blocks, led by junior Julian Perez (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg) with three. 

Three Titans notched six kills a piece, as Perez, junior Michael Eastman (Chicago, Ill.-Saint Ignatius), and sophomore Ryan Myers (Hawthorn Woods Ill.-Stevenson) led the Green and White offense. Junior Bradley Benson (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont Township) recorded 11 assists, while sophomore Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) had eight. 

Defensively, Eastman had a team-high seven digs, followed by junior Adam Blackmore (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) with six. Myers and sophomore Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) finished the match with two blocks each. 

In the team's second match of the day, Illinois Wesleyan lost a tough five set battle to the Griffins. IWU assembled a .146 attack percentage, and held their opponents to a .110 clip, but the Griffins held the advantage in kills (44-40), aces (10-6), assists (42-40), and digs (46-37). The Titans compiled 13 blocks, compared to Fontbonne's six. 

Eastman continued to lead the Titan offense, as he notched 11 kills and two aces with a .346 attack percentage. Freshman Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East), who picked up his first collegiate start in the match, finished right behind Eastman with 10 kills. Dicosola and Benson continued to orchestrate the majority of the offense with 19 and 15 assists, respectively. 

On the defensive side, junior Alec Mucha (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) led the match with a career-best 10 block, setting the program record. 

After dropping the first set, 25-19, IWU fought back after trailing 18-10 to tie the set at 22-22 late. A key timeout by Titan head coach Brandon Mueller iced the Griffins with Fontbonne leading 24-22. The Green and White used back-to-back kills from Milka and Eastman to complete the comeback and level the match at one with a 28-26 win. 

With Fontbonne winning the third set 25-20 to go 2-1, the Titans dominated the fourth set, winning 25-14, to knot it up at two sets a piece and forced the match to go the full length. The Titans were aided by four aces and four blocks in the fourth set, as they took the lead at 2-1 and never trailed again. But, Fontbonne would control the fifth set, and come out with the win with a score of 15-11. 

Illinois Wesleyan will conclude its west coast trip with a match against the host school, UC Santa Cruz, tomorrow, Jan. 21, at 10:45 a.m. PST, before taking on Edgewood College at 7:45 p.m. PST. A link to the live stream of the matches can be accessed here, and live stats can be found here.