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Men's volleyball rushes the court after defeating No. 19 Dominican for first ranked win in program history
© AshtinElder
2
Dominican (IL) DU 2-4,0-0 NACC
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 8-2,0-0 CCIW
Dominican (IL) DU
2-4,0-0 NACC
2
Final
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Ill. Wesleyan IWU
8-2,0-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Dominican (IL) DU 25 22 20 25 13 (2)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 23 25 25 22 15 (3)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball |

Titans Stun No. 19 Stars for First Top-20 Win in Program History

Titans advance to 8-2 on the season

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team continued its program-best season with the first top-20 win since it began competition five years ago as the Titans took down No. 19 Dominican University in five sets Thursday night, Feb. 6. IWU (8-2) won by set scores of 23-25, 25-22, 25-20, 22-25, and 15-13 as DU slipped to 2-4 on the year.

The Green and White was led by monster performances all-around with sophomores Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney M. Young) and Brenden Reutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) leading the charge. Williams racked up a career-high 20 kills on an impressive .341 clip, with his kill total ranking tied for third-most in program history. Reutter posted the program's first-ever triple-double as he finished with a career-high 10 kills, 25 assists, and career-best 21 digs. Reutter's dig total stands as the second-most in program history.

The freshmen duo of Ethan Kuziela (Chicago, Ill.-Marist) and Gavin Rohlwing (Tower Lake, Ill.-Barrington) added 11 kills each, with Rohlwing leading the Titans with five rejections. Alongside Reutter, senior Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) tallied 21 assists as the two split setting duties. 

IWU finished the match with 61 kills, the third-most in a match in program history, doing so on a .272 attack percentage, while the Stars posted 60 kills on a .216 clip to complete the offensive battle. The Titans recorded 61 digs, tied for the second-most in a match, but were narrowly edged out in the advantage by the Stars, 62-61. DU also held the upperhand in assists (55-54), with Illinois Wesleyan's mark tying for second-most in a match. While each team recorded three aces apiece, the Stars recorded a 10-3 edge in blocks.

After a late first-set comeback came up short 25-23, Williams smashed an over ball to go ahead 1-0 in the second. He later tied the match at three all. Rohlwing took control midway through the set with a trio of kills to push IWU ahead, 10-7. The duo then combined for a block before back-to-back Williams kills forced a DU timeout with the Titans in front, 14-9. 

A timely kill by senior Jake Kougan (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East), who was playing against his twin brother, was followed by a pair of Kuziela kills. Illinois Wesleyan's run continued with a Rohlwing-Kuziela stuff to stretch the lead to eight, 20-12. The Stars pushed back though, cutting the lead in half as head coach Brandon Mueller called a timeout with the Titans leading, 23-19. 

Dominican got as close as two, but a service error gave Illinois Wesleyan set point, 24-21. Kuziela finished off the set with a kill off a Reutter assist to level the match, 1-1.

In the third, the two teams traded points before a hammer off a kill from Williams broke a 7-7 tie. The Chicago, Ill. native followed with a swing off a continuation and added a third straight kill to stretch the lead to three, 10-7. 

Three points separated the Titans and Stars for much of the set, but Kougan and Kuziela teamed up for a clutch block to give IWU a 22-18 lead as DU burned a timeout. 

Dominican won the point out of the reset, but after notching a kill, Williams registered the Titans' first ace of the night to make it set point, 24-19. After his initial swing was covered off a block, Kuziela hammered a kill to seal the set, 25-20. 

The fourth set went to the visitors as an early lead slipped away. The Green and White led 9-5 after a Reutter-Rohlwing rejection, but the Stars stole the momentum and took the set, 25-22, on an IWU miscue.

Dominican won the race to eight in the fifth set with a kill as the teams traded benches with Illinois Wesleyan trailing, 8-6. A DU error out of a timeout sparked an IWU run that saw the Green and White grab five of the next six points. The run featured two kills from Rohlwing, one from Williams, and another from Reutter as the Titans snagged an 11-10 lead. 

With the decisive set deadlocked, 12-12, DiCosola put a perfect ball up for Reutter who came through with a kill as the backset caught the Stars on their heels. Dominican attack errors closed out the set, 15-13, as the Titans pulled off a historic victory.

Illinois Wesleyan welcomes Benedictine University and Wabash College to the Shirk Center this Sunday, Feb. 9, for a triangular. IWU will play BU at 11 a.m. and Wabash at 4 p.m. The Eagles and Little Giants will square off at 1:30 p.m.

 
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