Bradley Benson and Ryan Myers during the anthem

Men’s Volleyball Travels to North Park for 2024 Finale

First serve scheduled for 2 p.m. inside North Park Gymnasium

4/5/2024 3:30:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team will travel to North Park University for its 2024 season finale Saturday, April 6. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside North Park Gymnasium.

IWU enters the match off a three set loss to No. 19 North Central College inside Gregory Arena Wednesday night, April 3. With the loss, the Titans fell to 10-14 overall, 1-8 in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin action. Senior Michael Eastman (Chicago, Ill.-Saint Ignatius) led the team with 11 kills, while freshman Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney M. Young) added seven. Senior Bradley Benson (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont Township) and freshman Brenden Reutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) each posted 12 assists.

Eastman leads the Titan offense with 242 kills on a .258 attack percentage, averaging 3.27 kills per set. Williams is second on the squad with 176, an average of 2.44 per set, and junior Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) sits third with 108. Eastman also leads Illinois Wesleyan with 27 service aces, followed by Kougan and Benson with 17 and 13, respectively.

Junior Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) has accumulated a team-best 336 assists, averaging 4.80 per set. Reutter's 296 assists are the second-most for the Green and White, while Benson is third with 112.

Defensively, sophomore Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East) has notched a team-leading 193 digs, averaging 2.41 per game. Following Milka is Eastman with 120, and Williams with 98. At the net, Kougan holds a team-high 49 blocks. Senior Javier Romano (Prospect Heights, Ill.-Wheeling) closely follows with 45, and senior Julian Perez (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg) has 34 rejections, good for third-most on the team.

IWU and NPU will meet on the court for the 10th time, with the Vikings holding a 7-2 advantage. The Titans took the most recent meeting in four sets Saturday, March 2. Junior Ryan Myers (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.-Stevenson) tied for a match-high 17 kills, followed by Eastman's 14. DiCosola posted 30 assists, while Reutter chipped in 23, and Milka posted a match-leading 15 digs. North Park, who's been stirring up the CCIW league, enters with a record of 8-19 (1-8 CCIW), and most recently fell to seventh-ranked Carthage College in four sets Wednesday, April 3.

A live stream of the match will be provided, which can be found here, and live stats can be accessed here.

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