BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team posted a 1-1 record as host to the Aurora University and Trine University Saturday, Feb. 3, inside the Shirk Center. IWU (4-2) swept AU (0-4) in straight sets by scores of 25-23, 25-18, and 25-14, before falling in four sets to Trine (5-3) with set scores of 25-20, 25-20, 20-25, and 25-12.

Illinois Wesleyan 3, Aurora 0
Senior Michael Eastman (Chicago, Ill.-Saint Ignatius) put together a monster match, with 17 kills on a hefty clip of .483. His 17 kills are the most by a Titan in a three-set match in program history. He also added four digs, four aces, and four assists. Freshman Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney M. Young) also notched double-digit kills, as he totalled 12 on a .500 attacking percentage. 

Freshman Brenden Reutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) and junior Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) split time orchestrating a potent IWU attack. Reutter finished with a team-high 18 assists, while also notching a pair of digs and a block assist. DiCosola was credited with 12 assists and two digs.

Defensively, senior Javier Romano (Prospect Heights, Ill.-Wheeling) paced IWU with three blocks. Sophomore Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East) topped IWU with 11 digs.

As a team the Titans finished the three-set match with 42 kills on 83 attempts for a .361 clip. Illinois Wesleyan limited Aurora to a .184 attacking percentage with 28 kills on 76 swings. IWU also recorded advantages in assists (37-27), aces (6-5), and digs (31-22). Aurora finished with a 7-4 edge in blocks.

DiCosola set Williams for a kill to break a 19-19 tie and start a three-point IWU run. Williams followed with another kill, this one from Reutter, before Eastman pushed Illinois Wesleyan ahead, 22-19, with a kill of his own. The three-point spurt forced an Aurora timeout, which proved timely as the Spartans clawed back within one, 24-23, to bring about a Titan timeout.

Out of the regrouping session, Aurora evened the score at 24 all to hold off set point. With the set even, Illinois Wesleyan turned to Eastman. The senior captain took sets from Reutter and Williams to propel IWU to the win, 25-23. 

Service errors kept either team from getting out to a substantial lead early on, as the Spartans and Titans played to a 7-7 deadlock. Junior Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) came through with a kill and an ace, before Williams hammered a ball down for a kill. Illinois Wesleyan's run continued with a block from Romano to give the home team a three-point cushion, 10-7. 

Momentum continued as the Green and White benefited from a couple AU miscues, before Reutter set senior Julian Perez (Orland Park, Ill.-Sandburg) for a kill to stretch the advantage to five, 13-8. 

Out of an Aurora timeout, the Spartans pulled back within three, but Eastman tooled an Aurora block to get IWU back on track. Kougan joined forces with Eastman on the next rally with a powerful rejection at the net to force another AU timeout, but the pause did little to slow the Titans as they took the set, 25-18.

The Green and White posted a .429 attacking percentage in the third set to roll, 25-14, and complete the sweep.

Illinois Wesleyan 1, Trine 3
Eastman and Williams tied for the team lead with 13 kills apiece. Kougan added eight kills, while leading the team with three aces and three blocks. DiCosola notched 26 assists, with Reutter recording nine.

Eastman paced IWU with 17 digs, smashing his previous career-high of 12, to pick up his first double-double performance of the season. It marks the most kills in a four-set match in program history, and the third-most in any match by a Titan. Milka tallied 11, also notching a career-best, and senior Adam Blackmore (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) contributed 10. 

The Titans and Thunder finished even with 49 kills each, but it was Trine that held the upperhand in attacking percentage, .271 to .163. The Thunder also led in blocks (10-3) and assists (46-45), while the Titans registered leads in aces (6-4) and digs (61-50).

Illinois Wesleyan was forced to play from behind in the final match of the day as miscues allowed Trine to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the match.

IWU used its best offensive performance of the match to take down the Thunder, 25-20, in the third. The Titans hit .290 in the set with 12 kills, while the Green and White used three blocks to limit the Thunder to a .108 clip for the set. 

Illinois Wesleyan's momentum did not carry over to the fourth set however, as Trine scored the set's first five points en route to knocking off IWU, 25-12.

Next up for the Titans is a trip to the Windy City for a non-conference game against Illinois Institute of Technology Tuesday night, Feb. 6. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Keating Sports Center.