Luke Hartke on an attack against Wabash Feb. 10, 2024

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Men’s Volleyball Eyes First Road Trip of the Season to Rockford

Titans will face Regents at 7 p.m. inside Seaver Center

1/20/2025 11:12:00 AM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - After going a perfect 3-0 at home to open the 2025 season, the Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team will embark on its first road trip of the year, as the Titans head to Rockford University for a battle with the Regents Tuesday, Jan. 21. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Seaver Center.

The Titans enter Tuesday's match off of two wins in the IWU Triangular I, defeating The University of Olivet in straight sets before downing Lakeland University in four to close out the weekend. The latter match saw freshman Ethan Kuziela (Chicago, Ill.-Marist) pace the Green and White offense with nine kills on a .421 clip, followed by sophomore Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney M. Young) with seven, and fellow freshman Gavin Rohlwing (Tower Lake, Ill.-Barrington) with six. Williams posted a team-high three aces in the match. Senior Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) led the team in assists with 15, and digs with eight, while the trio of Rohlwing, Williams, and senior Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) each recorded a team-best three blocks.

Through three matches, Kuziela leads the IWU offense with 24 kills, averaging 2.67 per set. Senior Ryan Myers (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.-Stevenson) is second with 21, followed by Rohlwing with 19, with both averaging over two kills per set. Kuziela also leads the Titans in aces, totaling five in his first week of collegiate action. Sophomore Brenden Reutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East), freshman Trey Marek (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East), and Williams are tied for second with three aces apiece. Kuziela's average of 0.56 aces per set currently sits 26th nationally, and the Titans' team average of 2.09 per set ranks seventh in Division III.

The trio of DiCosola, Reutter, and Kuziela have orchestrated the majority of the Illinois Wesleyan offense. DiCosola leads the pack with 39 assists, averaging 3.90 per set. Reutter is second with 25 assists, an average of 2.50 per set, closely followed by Kuziela with 21, averaging 2.33 per set.

Defensively, IWU has seen a strong net presence, as Illinois Wesleyan ranks fourth in the nation in blocks per set with an average of 2.55. Leading the way, Kougan has totaled 13 rejections on the season, and his average of 1.30 blocks per set ranks 10th in Division III, and leads the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. Rohlwing is second on the squad with eight blocks, followed by Reutter with five stuffs. Junior Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East) leads the Green and White in digs with 17, averaging 1.55 per set. Myers follows with 14, and Kuziela and DiCosola closely trail with 12 digs each.

Illinois Wesleyan will meet Rockford on the court for the sixth time, with the teams having met at least once in each of IWU's seasons. The Titans own a 5-0 advantage in the series, which started in 2021 when they won the first match in program history by way of a five-set thriller, Feb. 22. Most recently, the Green and White defeated the Regents in four sets Jan. 23, 2024. Now-assistant coach Mike Eastman led the team with 12 kills on a .391 clip, followed by Williams, who posted 10 kills in his Shirk Center debut. Reutter, also making his home debut, led the offense with 22 assists. Milka paced the defense with eight digs, followed by Eastman's seven. Kougan notched his 100th career block in the contest, as he finished with three rejections. Rockford will make its 2025 season debut Tuesday night.

RU will have a live stream of the match, which can be found here, and live stats can be followed by clicking here.

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