BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team will take on Benedictine University Tuesday night, Jan. 24 for its 2023 home opener. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.

The Green and White offense has been led by junior Michael Eastman (Chicago, Ill.-Saint Ignatius), who has accumulated 40 kills and nine aces with a .219 attack percentage in 15 sets. Sophomore Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) and junior Bradley Benson (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont Township) have orchestrated the majority of the Titan attack with 63 and 49 assists, respectively. 

Defensively, IWU has shown a strong net protection, as four Titans have already hit double-digits in blocks. Junior Alec Mucha (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) leads Illinois Wesleyan with 15 total blocks, followed by junior Julian Perez (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg) and sophomore Ryan Myers (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.-Stevenson), who each have 12, and sophomore Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) with 10. 

The Titans just completed four games in Santa Cruz, Calif. Jan 20-21, where they went 1-3 to move to 2-3 on the season. Most recently, IWU swept Edgewood college late Saturday night, Jan. 21, with scores of 27-25, 25-15, 25-19. Eastman's impressive performance in California landed him on the Slug Slam All-Tournament Team, as he put together 31 kills on a .236 clip, 10 digs, nine aces, four blocks, and four assists over 12 sets. 

Benedictine enters the match after being swept by Wittenberg University Friday, Jan. 20, to fall to 1-1 on the year. 

This will mark the first match between the two teams. A live stream of the match can be accessed here, and live stats can be found here.