Javier Romano celebrates a point against Adrian Feb. 9, 2024

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Men’s Volleyball Hosts No. 5 Loras for CCIW Opener

First serve set for 7 p.m. inside Shirk Center

2/27/2024 12:00:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team will host fifth-ranked Loras College for the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin season opener Wednesday night, Feb. 28. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Shirk Center. IWU enters the match 8-6 overall, while Loras comes with a perfect 12-0 overall record, and 1-0 in CCIW action.

The Titan offense has been led by senior Michael Eastman (Chicago, Ill.-Saint Ignatius), who has 154 kills on 364 swings this season, good for a .277 attack percentage. His average of 3.35 kills per set ranks 41st nationally, and fifth in the grueling CCIW. Freshman Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney M. Young) is second on the team with 115 kills, while junior Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) sits third with 79. Eastman and Kougan are first and second in service aces, with 18 and 14, respectively, while senior Bradley Benson's (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont Township) eight aces are the third most for the Green and White.

Junior Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) and freshman Brenden Reutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) have been the masterminds behind the Titan offense all season. DiCosola has 218 assists for an average of 4.95 per set, while Reutter closely follows with 188 assists, averaging 4.70 per set. DiCosola enters Wednesday's match nearing the 1,000 career assists mark, with 943 assists in 58 matches.

Defensively, sophomore Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East) leads IWU with 130 digs, averaging 2.71 per set. Eastman is second on the squad with 79, while Williams rounds out the top three with 63. Kougan's 33 total blocks are a team-high. Senior Javier Romano (Prospect Heights, Ill.-Wheeling) narrowly trails with 32 rejections, averaging a team-best 0.76 blocks per set, and Perez is third on the Green and White with 21 stuffs.

Marking the seventh meeting between the two teams, Illinois Wesleyan looks to pick up its first win over the Duhawks. The most recent contest came on April 8, 2023, as the Titans fell in four sets to close out the season. Then-sophomore Ryan Myers (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.-Stevenson) led the Green and White with 13 kills, while then-junior Blake McGlashan-Bryant (Hawthorne, Calif.-Mira Costa) recorded a team-high 11 digs. DiCosola finished with 34 of the team's 39 assists. Loras recently defeated Carthage College in straight sets Friday night, Feb. 23, to open its CCIW slate.

The match will be live streamed, with Luke Kotcher on play-by-play, and IWU women's volleyball middle blocker Eleanor Palmer doing color commentary. The live stream link can be found here, while a link to live stats can be accessed by clicking here.

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