Men's volleyball huddles before North Park Match March 29, 2023

Adam Day

Men’s Volleyball Prepares for Final Regular Season Match Against No. 15 Loras

Titans look to secure a spot in the conference tournament

4/7/2023 2:00:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team gears up for its regular season finale Saturday, April 8, against No. 15 Loras College in a key College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin match at 3:30 p.m. inside the Shirk Center. The match will be a part of the athletic department's annual St. Jude day, which helps raise money for the organization through shirt sales and 5-50 raffles. A win would secure IWU (11-13, 2-7 CCIW) its first CCIW Tournament berth in program history.

The Titans enter the match off a four-set victory over Augustana College Saturday, April 1, fueled by an electric offense. Sophomores Ryan Myers (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.-Stevenson) and Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) finished with 12 kills each. The 12 kills set a career-best for Kougan, who finished the match with a .611 attack percentage, and added two aces. Myers accumulated a team-best 11 digs to notch his first career double-double performance.

Sophomore Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) led the Green and White with a career-high 34 assists, while adding four kills, also a new career-best for the setter. The Aurora, Ill. native added eight digs and two blocks on defense, landing him CCIW Setter of the Week honors, April 3, for the first time in his career.

Loras (17-5, 5-4 CCIW) enters the match off a four-set win over North Park University Saturday, April 1. The Duhawks have won all five previous matchups against the Titans, including the most recent battle Saturday, March 18, in which the Titans fell in straight sets.

Junior Michael Eastman (Chicago, Ill.-Saint Ignatius) enters the contest with a team-best 228 kills in 78 sets played, an average of 2.92 kills per set, while adding 30 service aces. DiCosola leads the team with 401 assists on the season, an average of 5.41 assists per set.

Defensively, the Titans are led by DiCosola and Eastman with 122 and 119 digs, respectively. Kougan has led the net protection, as he has compiled 40 total blocks, an average of 0.59 per set, while juniors Julian Perez (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg) and Javier Romano (Prospect Heights, Ill.-Wheeling) closely follow with 38 rejections each.

Links to the live stream and live stats can be found in the men's volleyball schedule page on iwusports.com.

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