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Men's Volleyball huddles after win at IIT Feb. 6, 2024
Meredith Mahoney
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 5-2,0-0 CCIW
2
IIT IIT 2-5,0-0 NACC
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
5-2,0-0 CCIW
3
Final
2
IIT IIT
2-5,0-0 NACC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 21 25 18 25 15 (3)
IIT IIT 25 21 25 11 8 (2)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball |

Titans Come Out on Top in Five-Set Thriller at IIT

Men’s Volleyball improves to 5-2 ahead of IWU Invitational

CHICAGO - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team fought its way back to take down Illinois Institute of Technology in five sets on the road Tuesday night, Feb. 6. The Titans climbed out of a 2-1 hole to win the match 3-2 with set scores of 21-25, 25–21, 18-25, 25-11, and 15-8. With the win, Illinois Wesleyan climbed to 5-2 on the year, while IIT dipped to 2-4 overall.

Three Titans finished with double digits kills as senior Michael Eastman (Chicago, Ill.-St Ignatius) and freshman Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney M. Young) tallied 13 apiece. Senior Julian Perez (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg) put together a tremendous match with 11 kills and five blocks, while also tacking on an ace. 

Freshman Brenden Reutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) tallied a team-high 25 assists and junior Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) added 21 as the duo orchestrated an IWU attack that hit .299 on the night. In addition to a trio of double-digit kill performances, the Titans saw a total of five players register six-or-more kills. Junior Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) added eight kills on a .429 clip, while senior Javier Romano (Prospect Heights, Ill.-Wheeling) was nearly unstoppable with six kills on seven swings, good for a .714 attacking percentage. Kougan and Romano tacked on four rejections each.

Sophomore Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East) was credited with a career-high 16 digs in the match to go along with four assists and a kill. Eastman completed a double-double with 10 digs. DiCosola added seven digs and Perez notched five to aid IWU's defensive effort.

Overall the Titans comeback came on the shoulders of a 55-46 lead in kills, including a .299 to .141 edge in attacking percentage. The Green and White also posted leads in digs (53-48), blocks (9-7), and aces (5-3). 

After dropping the first set, 25-21, the Titans regrouped in the second. Following back-and-forth action, Perez put the Titans out in front, 11-10, with a cross-court kill. 

IIT countered with a kill of its own, but kills from Perez and Williams gave IWU a two-point cushion, igniting a 4-1 run. Williams buried a pass from Milka to push the score to 15-12, and forced the Scarlet Hawks to call a timeout. 

Kougan pounced on a free ball, upping the score to 22-18. After an Illinois Tech sideout, Perez and Kougan teamed up for a block. Perez followed with a kill to push it to set point, bringing about a second IIT timeout. 

DiCosola ended the second set with a sneaky dump set, to even the match at one set apiece, as the Titans won the set with a final score of 25-21.

IIT used an early, 6-1, advantage to maintain control of the third set, and take it with a final score of 25-18.

The fourth set was all Illinois Wesleyan. A kill from Kougan kickstarted an 8-1 start to the set, and forced the Scarlet Hawks to use an early timeout.

Out of the timeout, Perez buried a dish from DiCosola before Illinois Tech could get a sideout. 

After two points from the Scarlet Hawks, IWU took the next five via IIT miscues, and a Williams kill sandwiched between two aces from Reutter to up the score to 14-3. The Green and White never relinquished command, as a kill from Romano helped capture the fourth set, 25-11, evening the match at two sets all.

The fifth set saw staggered action, and Illinois Tech was the first to the halfway mark, taking an 8-7 lead. That would be the final point for the home team, as IWU closed the match on an 8-0 run.

Williams evened the match at eight with a kill, bringing DiCosola back to serve the rest of the way. Perez and Kougan notched back-to-back blocks, and three errors accompanied an ace from DiCosola to bring up match point. Perez and Kougan combined for one final block to secure the win, bringing the fifth set to a final score of 15-8.

Illinois Wesleyan returns to action with four home matches this weekend, Friday-Saturday, Feb. 9-10, as host to the IWU Invitational. The Titans will welcome Wisconsin Lutheran College, Adrian College, Edgewood College, and Wabash College to the Shirk Center for two days of action. IWU will battle WLU at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, before taking on Adrian at 8 p.m. Saturday will see the Green and White battle Edgewood at 10 a.m., followed by Wabash at noon.
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