BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team began its home tournament with a pair of wins Friday night, Feb. 9, inside the Shirk Center. The Titans took care of Wisconsin Lutheran College in four sets (25-17, 25-27, 25-21, 25-12) before sweeping Adrian College (26-24, 25-22, 25-12).

With the wins, Illinois Wesleyan climbed to 7-2 on the season. WLC dipped to 0-4 overall with the setback, while Adrian's record now stands at 5-6.

Illinois Wesleyan opened the tournament with a four-set victory over Wisconsin Lutheran (0-4). As a team IWU held advantages in kills (46-26), assists (40-26), digs (44-25), and broke the program's single-game record with 14 aces, while WLC finished with five aces and an advantage in blocks (10-6). The Green and White hit .202 as a squad, while stifling the Warriors to a .010 attack percentage. 

Junior Luke Hartke (Barrington, Ill.-Barrington) led the match with a career-high 12 kills, while freshman Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney M. Young) posted 11 kills on a whopping .529 attack percentage. Senior Bradley Benson (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont Township) finished with 22 assists, while freshman Ethan Keutzer (St. Louis, Mo.-St. Louis University High) totaled 13 assists. A trio of Titans led the charge at the service line, as Benson, Hartke, and sophomore Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East) notched three aces each. 

IWU's defensive effort was led by Williams and senior Blake McGlashan-Bryant (Hawthorne, Calif.-Mira Costa), who each finished with eight digs. Senior Alec Mucha (Geneva, Ill.-Geneva) posted a team-best three blocks, while Milka, Hartke, and junior Ryan Myers (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.-Stevenson) posted a pair of rejections apiece. 

With the first set tied at 8-8, Williams buried a dish from Keutzer to ignite a 5-1 run for the home team. 

After a service error gave the Titans a sideout, Keutzer recorded his first collegiate ace to up the score to 18-12. Wisconsin Lutheran followed by recording three of the next four points, but IWU utilized two kills from Hartke, a kill from Williams, and an ace from sophomore Luke Weston (Lafayette, Ind.-William Henry Harrison) to push the score to 23-15, ultimately locking the opening set as IWU would win with a score of 25-17. 

After dropping the second set, 27-25, Hartke opened the third with a tool for the Titans. WLC rattled off five straight points to take an early, 7-5, lead, but Kougan recorded a kill to get the sideout before him and Milka rejected a Warriors attack to even the set at seven. 

Facing a 12-9 deficit, head coach Brandon Mueller elected to call a timeout. The timeout proved to be a crucial turning point in the set, as Illinois Wesleyan would go on a 9-2 run. Hartke sandwiched a kill, as he once again tooled a block, in between WLC errors, and William tipped one over to put IWU out in front, 15-14. Williams posted back-to-back kills, followed by a pair of miscues from the Warriors to finish off the run, as IWU saw an 18-14 advantage.

Wisconsin Lutheran brought the set back to within one, as the Warriors took the next three points, but Illinois Wesleyan pushed the lead back to four courtesy of two WLC errors and a Williams ace. Mucha and Hartke would team up for a block to close the set, 25-21, in favor of the Titans. 

The fourth set was all Illinois Wesleyan, as the Titans kicked off the set on a 7-1 run. 

After the two teams traded some points back-and-forth, Illinois Wesleyan found its groove to take control of the set. Myers kickstarted a 12-2 run for the Green and White with a kill, which was followed by a block from Mucha and Milka and a Milka kill. 

After a WLC error, the visiting team called timeout, which did not stop the Titans, who resumed play with a Myers block. 

The end of the run saw Illinois Wesleyan hold a 23-9 lead after two straight Milka aces, and Williams and Kougan finished the match with consecutive kills to win the set, and the match, 25-12. 

A balanced attack made way for the win as five Titans finished with six-or-more kills. Senior Julian Perez (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg) led the way with eight kills, while senior Michael Eastman (Chicago, Ill.-Saint Ignatius), Hartke, and Williams added seven each. Kougan notched six kills on seven swings, good for an .857 attacking percentage.

Milka recorded seven digs to pace the Titans, with Eastman chipping in six and a team-high two aces. Williams aided the defensive effort with a team-best four blocks. Senior Javier Romano (Prospect Heights, Ill.-Wheeling) and Kougan tallied three rejections apiece.

Overall, Illinois Wesleyan finished with leads in kills (38-32) and blocks (6-4), with Adrian holding the edge in digs (29-25). Each team finished with five aces. IWU finished the match with a commanding .375 to .133 lead in attacking percentage.

Illinois Wesleyan called a timeout trailing, 13-9, in the first set but head coach Brandon Mueller's regrouping session got the Titans back on track. Junior Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) set Perez for a kill to cap a 6-1 IWU run as the home team grabbed a 15-14 lead.

Staring down set point, Mueller called another timeout, which once again proved timely. DiCosola set Williams for a kill down the line to level the match at 24 all, before a pair of Adrian miscues gave IWU the set, 26-24.

The Green and White led by as many five in the second set. A kill from Hartke was followed by a kill from Eastman as IWU charged ahead, 20-15. The Bulldogs battled back though, eventually tying the score at 21 to force an IWU timeout.

Out of the pause, DiCosola set Kougan and Eastman for kills before an attacking error gave the Titans set point, 24-21. Illinois Wesleyan went on to take the set, 25-22, on an AC error to nab a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Green and White rolled in the third set, opening things up with the first five points and never looking back. A big denial from Williams and Romano stretched the lead to 10 midway through the set, as IWU's defense stymied AC. The Bulldogs hit just .154 for the set, while the Titans recorded a .409 clip en route to the 25-12 win.

Illinois Wesleyan wraps up the tournament with a pair of matches tomorrow, Feb. 10. The Titans will play Edgewood College at 10 a.m., before battling Wabash at noon.