Brenden Reutter sets against Wabash Feb. 10, 2024

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Men’s Volleyball Hosts 10th-Ranked Carthage for Home Finale

First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Shirk Center

3/26/2024 12:00:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Coming off the program's first ever senior day, the Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team will host No. 10 Carthage College for a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin clash Wednesday, March 27. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside the Shirk Center, and will be the final match at home for the Titans.

Illinois Wesleyan most recently fell in straight sets to Augustana College Sunday, March 24, dropping the Green and White to 10-12 overall (1-6 CCIW). Senior Michael Eastman (Chicago, Ill.-Saint Ignatius) and freshman Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney M. Young) led IWU with eight kills apiece. The match saw Eastman record his 1000th career point, becoming the first in program history to do so. Junior Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) finished with a team-high 12 assists, while Williams posted a team-best seven digs.

Eastman leads the Titan offense, having accumulated 217 kills, an average of 3.19 per set, on a .258 attack percentage. Williams is second on the team with 157 kills, averaging 2.38 per set, followed by junior Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) with 103. Eastman's 25 aces lead the team, while Kougan is second with 16, and senior Bradley Benson (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont Township) sits third with 13. DiCosola's 336 assists, an average of 5.01 per set, rank first on the team, followed by freshman Brenden Reutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) with 266, averaging 4.43 per set.

Defensively, the Titans have seen sophomore Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East) record a team-high 133 digs, averaging 2.39 per set. Eastman's 110 digs are the second-most on the squad, and Williams rounds out the top three with 86. Leading the net defense, Kougan has a team-best 44 blocks, while senior Javier Romano (Prospect Heights, Ill.-Wheeling) closely follows with 40 rejections. Fellow senior Julian Perez (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg) is third with 31 stuffs.

IWU and Carthage will face off for the eighth time, with the Firebirds claiming the victory in all previous meetings. Carthage took the most recent meeting in three sets inside Tarble Arena Saturday, March 9. Eastman led the Titans with 11 kills and seven digs in the contest, while DiCosola notched a team-high 15 assists. The Firebirds enter Wednesday's match off a sweep over 11th-ranked North Central College Saturday, March 23. The win upped Carthage's record to 13-5 overall, and 5-1 in league play.

The match will be live streamed, which can be found here, while live stats can be viewed by clicking here.

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