Jake Kougan digs a ball against Concordia Chicago Jan. 27, 2023

Kodiak Creative

Men’s Volleyball Slated for Rumble at Rockford

Titans look to pick up program-record ninth win

2/23/2023 3:00:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - After nine days off from competition, the Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team will travel up to Rockford University for a non-conference match Friday night, Feb. 24. First serve is slated for a 7 p.m. start inside the Seaver Center.

Illinois Wesleyan (8-6) last played against Dominican University Feb. 15. The Titans fell in four sets to the Stars (1-3) inside the Shirk Center. Junior Bradley Benson (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont Township) and sophomore Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) each notched a double-double performance. Benson finished with 13 assists and 11 digs, while DiCosola finished with 13 and 10.

The Titan offense has been led by veteran junior Michael Eastman (Chicago, Ill.-St. Ignatius), as he has recorded 148 kills and 21 service aces in 47 sets played this season. DiCosola and Benson have orchestrated the majority of the Titan offense with 247 and 168 assists, respectively.

DiCosola also leads the Green and White defense with 84 digs, followed by junior KJ Johnson (Saint John, Ind.-Marian Catholic) and Eastman with 68 and 67, respectively. Sophomore Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) has commanded the net protection with 31 blocks on the season. Junior Julian Perez (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg) closely follows with 29 rejections.

Rockford enters the match carrying a 4-3 record. The Regents most recently swept Maranatha Baptist University Monday night, Feb. 20, for the second time this season.

This will mark the fourth matchup between the two programs, with IWU having won the previous three. The last time the two took the court was on Jan. 25, 2022. The Titans gutted out a five-set comeback, winning with set scores 24-26, 19-25, 26-24, 26-24, 15-10. Perez led the match with a career-high 20 kills, and Johnson finished with a 13 kill, 27 dig double-double performance.

The match will be streamed live, which can be accessed by clicking here, and live stats can be found here.

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