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Head Coach Brandon Mueller fired up after the win over CUC Jan. 30, 2025
© AshtinElder
0
Concordia Chicago CUC 2-5,0-0 NACC
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 6-1,0-0 CCIW
Concordia Chicago CUC
2-5,0-0 NACC
0
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
6-1,0-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Concordia Chicago CUC 22 23 21 (0)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball |

Titans Sweep Cougars to Extend Program-Best Start

Rohlwing and team break block record for three-set match

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team swept Concordia University Chicago inside Shirk Center Thursday night, Jan. 30, taking the sets 25-22, 25-23, and 25-21. With the win, IWU ups its record to 6-1, extending its program-best start. The win was highlighted by the Titans and freshman Gavin Rohlwing (Tower Lake, Ill.-Barrington) breaking the block record for a three-set match. Rohlwing posted a career-high nine blocks, the second-most in any match, while the team finished with 12. 

Illinois Wesleyan finished the contest with 37 kills on a .259 attack percentage, while limiting the Cougars (2-5) to 33 kills on a .133 clip. The Green and White also held the upperhand in assists (35-31), blocks (12-7), and aces (2-1), while Concordia Chicago had the edge in digs, 26-25. 

The Titan offense saw freshman Trey Marek (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) post a team-high eight kills, tying his career-best. Sophomore Patrick Dasbach (Lombard, Ill.-Willowbrook) registered seven kills on an impressive .417 attack percentage. Fellow sophomore Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney M. Young) also posted seven kills. 

The setter duo of sophomore Brenden Reutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) and senior Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) orchestrated the attack for the Titans. Reutter finished with a team-leading 18 assists, along with six kills on seven swings, good for a whopping .714 clip, while DiCosola added 14 assists.

For the second straight match, IWU controlled the contest with a hefty net defense. Following Rohlwing's nine blocks, Marek, Dasbach, Reutter, and senior Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) finished with three rejections apiece. Williams led the back row with eight digs, while junior Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East) finished with five, and Marek accrued four. 

Trailing for the first half of the opening set, Kougan tied the score at 10 apiece with an ace. After a CUC service error leveled the set at 12-12, beginning a string of five straight points for the Titans. Williams followed with a kill, and Rohlwing downed a ball sent over prematurely before downing a set from Reutter, forcing Concordia Chicago to call timeout, as IWU jumped ahead, 15-12.

The Cougars clawed back to bring the set within one, 17-16, but Illinois Wesleyan rattled off three consecutive points. A CUC attack error was sandwiched by kills from Kougan, both coming on assists from DiCosola, upping the score to 20-16. Concordia Chicago responded with a run of its own, evening the score at 21 all. The Titans closed the set by taking four of the last five points. Dasbach started the run with a kill, and Rohlwing and Marek teammed up for a block to cue set point, 24-21. CUC extended the set briefly, but a service error gave the Green and White the first set, 25-22. 

All tied up at 18 in the second set, the Titans faced a 21-18 deficit late, as CUC stole three straight points. Similar to Tuesday night's reverse sweep over Marian, Illinois Wesleyan found a way to get back in the game, claiming the next four points that was composed of three Cougar miscues and a block from Rohlwing and Dasbach, throwing IWU ahead, 22-21. Concordia Chicago responded by taking back-to-back points, but Reutter found Dasbach and Marek for back-to-back kills, and Williams buried a ball sent over early to give the Green and White a two set advantage, 25-23. 

Illinois Wesleyan controlled the third and final set from start to finish. Reutter opened with a kill, followed by another rejection from Dasbach and Rohlwing, and Williams followed a CUC sideout by downing a dish from Reutter to open the set up 4-1. The Cougars came back a few times to relinquish the lead to one, but the Titans used a 6-2 run midway through to gain full control. Marek began the stretch with a kill, tipping one over the opposing block, and a Concordia Chicago error followed to force a timeout. After the break, and a Cougars sideout, Kougan and Reutter blocked an attack following a service error from the visitors to up the score to 18-13. DiCosola found Reutter for a kill to get a Green and White sideout, and another attack error pushed the lead to six, 20-14. 

Concordia Chicago chipped away at the advantage to bring the set to within two, 22-20, but Rohlwing downed a set from Reutter to put the match within reach. Reutter fed Marek for a kill to set up match point, and Williams and Kougan rejected an attack to complete the sweep for the home team, 25-21. 

The Titans remain home and will host their second of three triangulars Saturday, Jan. 30. The IWU Triangular II will feature Illinois Institute of Technology and Trine University. IWU will face IIT at 11 a.m. before concluding the tournament against Trine at 4 p.m.
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