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Patrick Dasbach on an attack in the men's volleyball win over CUW Jan. 16, 2025
© AshtinElder
1
Concordia Wisconsin CUW 0-1,0-0 NACC
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 1-0,0-0 CCIW
Concordia Wisconsin CUW
0-1,0-0 NACC
1
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
1-0,0-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Concordia Wisconsin CUW 18 27 20 21 (1)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball |

Men’s Volleyball Opens 2025 Season with Win Over CUW

Trio of Titans record double-digit kills

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Opening its season at home for the first time in program history, the Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team downed Concordia University Wisconsin in four sets inside the Shirk Center Thursday night, Jan. 16. It marks the third straight season the Titans (1-0) have won their season opener. 

Illinois Wesleyan's offense was powered by three Titans registering double-digit kills. Senior Ryan Myers (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.-Stevenson) led the way with 14 kills on a whopping .458 attack percentage, committing only three attack errors on the night. Making his collegiate debut, freshman Ethan Kuziela (Chicago, Ill.-Marist) made an immediate impact, totaling 13 kills in the contest. Sophomore Patrick Dasbach (Lombard, Ill.-Willowbrook) recorded a career-best 10 kills to round out the double-digit attackers. Kuziela led the IWU with two aces, while five Titans recorded one apiece. 

The duo of senior Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) and sophomore Brenden Reutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) orchestrated the majority of the Titan offense that finished with an attack percentage of .259. DiCosola led the team with 20 assists, tying for the match-high, while Reutter recorded 13. 

On the defensive side, Dasbach also recorded a career-best five digs, tying for the team lead with Myers and junior Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East). Senior Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) made his net presence known, as he posted a career-high seven blocks, the most in a four-set match in program history and the second-most in any match. Freshman Gavin Rohlwing (Tower Lake, Ill.-Barrington), also making his collegiate debut, finished second on the team in blocks with four to go along with nine kills. Dasbach, Kuziela, and Reutter each finished with three rejections. 

As a team, IWU recorded 51 kills, while CUW (0-1) finished with 42 on a .163 clip. The Green and White also held the upper hand in assists (46-39), aces (7-3), and blocks (13-7). The 13 rejections for the Titans is tied for second-most in a match in program history.

Illinois Wesleyan took the first point of the new season, as Reutter found Myers for a kill. Reutter then registered a kill of his own, as he buried a pass from Kuziela, who recorded his first assist to make the score 2-0. A few points later, DiCosola found Kuziela for his first collegiate kill, extending the Titans' lead to two, 5-3.

With the score level at 13, IWU took five of the next six points to jump ahead, 18-14. The run saw two kills from Myers, and a kill from Kuziela. A block from Rohlwing, his first, and Reutter ended the spree.

IWU closed the set on another 5-1 run, as a bad set followed a kill from Dasbach, handing the Titans the first set, 25-18.

After dropping the second set, 27-25, the Titans fought back to win the third. Down 6-5, Illinois Wesleyan took six of the next seven points for an early 11-7 edge. A service error started the run, followed by a block from the trio of Rohlwing, Myers, and Kuziela. Kougan notched an ace, and the Falcons recorded an attack error before finally getting a sideout. DiCosola fed Kuziela for a kill, and another CUW miscue finished the run for the Titans. 

Up 14-10, Rohlwing added another first to his statline, as he notched an ace to up the cushion to five. Following some back-and-forth action, Dasbach posted a crosscourt kill to push IWU's lead to 17-12, helping the Titans coast to a 25-20 win in the third set.

Trailing for the majority of the fourth set, head coach Brandon Mueller burned an early timeout as the Titans faced an 8-2 deficit. Clawing its way back, IWU took four points to bring the set within one, as Myers registered two straight kills, Kuziela followed with an ace, and a CUW error brought the score to 13-12 in favor of the Falcons. 

Concordia Wisconsin looked to be pulling away, up 17-13, but IWU was not done yet. Milka fed Dasbach for a kill, sparking a run, and Dasbach and Kougan teamed up for a rejection on the next point. A kill from Myers cut the deficit to one, and Reutter aced the Falcons to tie the set at 18 apiece. 

Following a Falcons sideout, IWU found the momentum to complete the comeback. DiCosola set Kuziela, who tooled the block to level the score at 19. On a night of debuts, freshman Ben Zima (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard South) came in to serve, recording his first career ace to give the Green and White its first lead of the set, 20-19, forcing CUW to call a timeout.

The break in action did little to stop the Titans, as Myers downed a set from DiCosola, and back-to-back errors from the Falcons extended the lead to four, 23-19. Concordia Wisconsin followed with a sideout, but Kougan ripped a set from DiCosola to set up match point. Continuing their strong nights, Kuziela drilled a dish from DiCosola on the line to secure the match with a final set score of 25-20. 

Illinois Wesleyan remains home and will host its first of three home triangulars Saturday, Jan. 18. The Titans will welcome University of Olivet and Lakeland University to the Shirk Center. IWU will kick off the day facing Olivet at 11 a.m., and conclude the tournament against Lakeland with a tentative 4 p.m. start. All information for the tournament, including links to the live stream and livestats, can be found here.
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