BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team battled back to reverse sweep Marian University Tuesday night, Jan. 28, inside the Shirk Center. The Titans upped their record to 5-1 with the win, while the Sabres (4-1) were handed their first loss of the season.
Freshman Gavin Rohlwing (Tower Lake, Ill.-Barrington) and sophomore Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney M. Young) posted career days to lead an IWU attack that saw four players finish with seven-or-more kills. Rohlwing led the way with a career-high 17 kills on a .419 clip, while Williams tallied a career-best 15 kills on 46 swings. Williams led the team with four aces and completed a double-double with a career-best 11 digs.
Rohlwing and Williams were part of a monster net defense that set the program's match record for total blocks with 15 rejections. Rohlwing and fellow freshman Wilson Spaulding (Tucson, Ariz.-Catalina Foothills) notched seven stuffs apiece to pace the team. Freshman Trey Marek (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) and Williams were credited with three each, while seniors Ryan Myers (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.-Stevenson) and Luke Hartke (Barrington, Ill.-Barrington) added two apiece.
Sophomore Brenden Reutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) and senior Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) directed an Illinois Wesleyan attack that finished with a .236-.182 advantage in hitting percentage. Reutter went for a career-high 30 assists and DiCosola tallied 22, while the duo finished with nine and eight digs, respectively. Junior Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East) posted a team-high 14 digs.
A back-and-forth start eventually saw the Titans pull ahead as kills from Rohlwing pushed the Green and White to a 19-15 lead. The Sabres battled back within one, but DiCosola set Rohlwing for another point to give IWU a two-point cushion, 20-18. Marian responded with a three-point run to grab a 21-20 edge and force an Illinois Wesleyan timeout, but the reset could not break the run as the visitor's took the set, 25-21.
The Sabres once again upended the Titans in the second. After trailing early, Rohlwing and Myers combined for a rejection to level the score at eight all. Swings by Marek, Myers, and Reutter put the Green and White up two, 15-13. IWU expanded its lead to four to force a MU timeout at 18-14.
DiCosola's sneak attempt was scooped and returned, but a Rohlwing kill finished off the point, 19-15. Marek capped a lengthy rally with a kill moments later as IWU continued to battle, but a 5-1 Sabre run saw the Titans burn both of their timeouts. Coming out of the second reset trailing 22-21, back-to-back aces gave Marian set point, 24-21. A kill sealed the set, 25-21, as IWU went down two sets to none.
The Titans rallied from behind in the third to extend the match. The Sabres jumped out to an 8-2 lead, but Williams and Rohlwing teamed up for a stuff to give the Titans life. Feeding off the momentum from a few stout defensive efforts, Reutter put down a kill to cut the deficit to four. Williams served up an ace before he and Reutter rejected the Sabres attack attempt to tie the set, 15-15.
Back-to-back kills from Rohlwing off Reutter sets gave IWU its first lead of the set, 17-16, as the Sabres called a timeout. Marian strung a few points together out of the pause, but this time Illinois Wesleyan had a response. After going down, 20-19, DiCosola set Spaulding for a kill. On the very next point Spaulding and Reutter came through with a timely block and two Marian miscues propelled the Green and White ahead, 23-21, into another timeout.
The Titans did not relinquish the lead, as Hartke tipped a ball over the block for set point and Rohlwing notched a kill to clinch it, 25-21.
Illinois Wesleyan carried the momentum into the fourth, where a smash off the block by Marek gave the home team a 14-12 edge. The Titan lead did not last long though, as the Sabres clawed back to level the set at 20-20 and then again 21-21. Williams' fourth ace of the night reclaimed the lead for IWU and a Spaulding-Reutter block made it a two-point cushion, 23-21.
Marian would not let up though, as a crafty play at the net by Williams staved off match point and tied the set, 24-24. Key plays by Reutter and Williams along with a Marian error allowed IWU to take the set, 27-25, and force a decisive fifth.
The Green and White completed the comeback in the final set, holding the lead for the majority of the set, but had to hold off a late push by the Sabres. Reutter and Spaulding combined for a block midway through the set before Rohlwing's kill gave IWU an 8-6 lead as the team's switched benches. With the score even at 14 apiece, Spaulding found space in the middle of the floor on a tip to give IWU match point, 15-14, before a MU miscue sealed the win, 16-14.
Illinois Wesleyan continues its string of home games this Thursday, Jan. 30, as Concordia University Chicago visits the Shirk Center. First serve between the Titans and Cougars is set for 7 p.m.
