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Jace Milka hitting against Loras April 8, 2023
Kodiak Creative
1
Augustana (IL) AUGIE 10-7,0-3 CCIW
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 11-7,1-3 CCIW
Augustana (IL) AUGIE
10-7,0-3 CCIW
1
Final
3
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
11-7,1-3 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Augustana (IL) AUGIE 18 20 25 22 (1)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 25 23 25 (3)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball |

Men’s Volleyball Defeats Augustana for CCIW Victory

Titans tie program record with 11th win of season

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team got back in the win column with a four-set victory over Augustana College Saturday afternoon, March 1, winning with set scores of 25-18, 25-20, 23-25, and 25-22. With the win, the Titans tie their program record for wins in a season, picking up their 11th to move to 11-7 overall, and 1-3 in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin action. Augie dropped to 10-7 on the season, 0-3 in CCIW play.

Junior Jace Milka (Bolinbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East) led the offense with a career-high 19 kills, doing so on an impressive .343 clip, finishing with a career-best 23.5 points. Sophomore Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney M. Young) added 13 points on a .370 clip, while freshman Gavin Rohlwing (Tower Lake, Ill.-Barrington) notched eight kills to round out the top-three hitters. 

The duo of senior Vince DiCosola (Aurora, Ill.-Oswego East) and sophomore Brenden Reutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) led the IWU attack that hit .303 for the match. DiCosola led the team with 25 assists, while Reutter finished with 22. DiCosola and freshman Cael Whitchurch (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont) each posted a pair of aces. 

On the defensive end, Reutter registered a double-double, as he finished with a team-best 10 digs. Getting the start at libero, freshman Daniel Overstreet (Oswego, Ill.-Oswego) posted a career-high nine digs, followed by eight apiece from DiCosola and Williams. Continuing his dominance at the net, Rohlwing recorded eight blocks, while Milka closely followed with a career-high six rejections. Reutter finished with three stuffs. 

As a team, IWU held statistical advantages in kills (55-44) — while limiting Augie to a .192 attack percentage — assists (50-40), aces (7-3), and blocks (11-4), while each team totaled 41 digs.

Illinois Wesleyan opened the match by taking the first four points. Rohwling hammered a set from DiCosola to crack the scoreboard. Following an Augie miscue, Williams and Rohlwing paired up for back-to-back kills, coming on assists from Reutter and DiCosola, respectively.

Augustana responded with a run of its own, and the set remained close, as both teams stood tied at 11 apiece. Milka sandwiched an AC attack error to give the Green and White a 13-11 edge. Tied again at 15-15, IWU broke the tie, using an Augie miscue to its advantage, and Williams buried a kill while out of system via a Reutter set, forcing a Vikings timeout, as the home team stood in front, 17-15.

Following the break, the two teams traded points, but an Augie service error broke the set open for the Titans, as IWU took the next two points via blocks. Milka and Rohlwing rejected the first Augie attack, before freshman Ethan Kuziela (Chicago, Ill.-Marist) joined the duo for the next block, giving the Green and White a 21-17 lead, as the Vikings called their final timeout of the set. 

The break did little to stop the Titans, as they closed the set by taking the last four points. Augustana registered a sideout out of the timeout, and Milka responded with a kill. After an AC attack error, Reutter and Rohlwing stuffed an Augie attack, and DiCosola floated an ace to secure set one in favor of the Titans, 25-18.

With Augie slimly ahead, 7-6, Reutter found Kougan for a kill to even the second set early, sparking a 7-1 run for the home team. Kuziela and Rohlwing teamed up for another block, which was placed between two AC errors, with the latter causing Augustana to call a timeout trailing 10-7. Reutter fed Kuziela, who laced one on the line out of the timeout before Augustana could get a sideout. A point later, Milka wedged one between a block and followed with a kill on a ball sent over prematurely, pushing the Titans ahead, 13-8.

IWU commanded the set the rest of the way, as an Augie mistake cued set point, and DiCosola fed Milka, who buried a kill to finalize the second set, 25-20. 

After dropping the third set, 25-23, the Titans opened the set with a Rohlwing kill, kickstarting a 5-1 run for the home team. Reutter found Milka for a kill following a Vikings service error, and Rohlwing solo stuffed the next Augie attack. DiCosola closed out the opening run with an ace to give the home team an early cushion. 

Augustana found back to bring the set within one, 10-9, but IWU quickly regained momentum with four straight points. The streak featured kills from Kuziela and Milka, a Milka ace, before Kuziela closed the run with a solo block, putting the Titans ahead, 14-9. 

IWU never relinquished its lead, despite Augustana's best efforts, as the Vikings closed the gap to 22-21. DiCosola dished out sets to Milka and Williams for back-to-back kills, setting up match point, 24-21. AC took the next point via an IWU miscue, causing head coach Brandon Mueller to use a late timeout. The break worked in favor of the Titans, as DiCosola found Williams for a kill to secure the win for the home team, 25-22. 

The Titans return to the road, as IWU heads to No. 12 Loras College for a CCIW clash Wednesday night, March 5. Illinois Wesleyan takes on the Duhawks (9-2, 3-1 CCIW) at 7 p.m. in Dubuque, Iowa, at the Lillis Athletic & Wellness Center.
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