Men's Volleyball bench celebrates a point against Marian Jan. 28, 2025

Men’s Volleyball Welcomes Concordia Chicago for Thursday Night Match

Titans hope to continue program-best start

1/29/2025 12:00:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Coming off a thrilling reverse sweep over Marian University Tuesday night, Jan. 28, the Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team hosts Concordia University Chicago for a Thursday night contest, Jan. 30. The Titans (5-1) will face the Cougars (2-4) at 7 p.m. inside Shirk Center.

After dropping the first two sets, and trailing 8-2 to start the third, IWU fought back to take the last three sets to secure the comeback victory against Marian (5-1), handing the Sabres their first loss of the season. The match saw the Titans shatter the program record for blocks in a match with 15 rejections, led by freshmen Gavin Rohlwing (Tower Lake, Ill.-Barrington) and Wilson Spaulding (Tucson, Ariz.-Catalina Heights) with seven blocks apiece. Rohlwing and sophomore Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney M. Young) led the offense, as both established career-bests with 17 and 15 kills, respectively. Williams stuffed his stat line with career-highs of four aces and 11 digs, notching his first double-double performance in his career. Fellow sophomore Brenden Reutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) also established a personal-best, as he led the team with 30 assists. Junior Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East) finished with a team-high 14 digs.

Through six matches, Rohlwing leads the offense with 42 kills, as he is averaging 2.10 per set on an impressive .387 attack percentage. Williams is second on the squad with 33, an average of 2.54 per set, followed by senior Ryan Myers (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.-Stevenson) with 30. The sophomore duo of Williams and Reutter has led the team from the service line with each having totaled seven aces this season. The trio of Rohlwing, Myers, and freshman Ethan Kuziela (Chicago, Ill.-Marist) are tied for third with five aces apiece.

Illinois Wesleyan has seen the majority of setting duties split between senior Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) and Reutter. DiCosola leads the way with 84 assists, averaging four per set, while Reutter closely trails with 72, an average of 3.43. Kuziela rounds out the top three with 21 assists.

The Titans have seen a strong net presence this season, led by Rohlwing's 18 blocks, an average of 0.90 per set. Senior Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) is second with 13, averaging an even one per set, and Reutter follows with 12 rejections. Milka leads the defense with 46 digs, averaging 2.09 per set. Myers and DiCosola follow with 31 and 24, respectively.

IWU and CUC will meet on the court for the third time, with prior meetings in 2022 and 2023. The Green and White own a 2-0 record in the series, and have taken both matches in five sets, most recently on Jan. 27, 2023. Now-assistant coach Mike Eastman led the offense with 12 kills, while Kougan scorched the Cougars with 11 kills on a .450 clip to go along with five digs, three blocks, and an ace. Concordia Chicago enters the contest off a sweep over The University of Olivet Friday, Jan. 24.

A live stream of the link can be found here, with Matt Sosler and women's volleyball freshman Alex Bardouniotis on the air, and live stats can be followed along by clicking here.

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