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Men's volleyball celebrates win at Concordia Chicago Jan. 15, 2026
Meredith Mahoney
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 1-0,0-0 CCIW
1
Concordia Chicago CUC 0-1,0-0 NACC
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
1-0,0-0 CCIW
3
Final
1
Concordia Chicago CUC
0-1,0-0 NACC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 29 42 25 (3)
Concordia Chicago CUC 21 27 44 17 (1)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball |

Men’s Volleyball Opens Season with Win at Concordia Chicago

Titans record 64 kills, most in four-set match in program history

RIVER FOREST, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team opened its 2026 season with a four-set victory at Concordia University Chicago Thursday night, Jan. 15. The Titans (1-0) defeated the Cougars (0-1) behind set scores of 25-21, 29-27, 42-44, 25-17, with the third set marking the longest in program history and tied for second in NCAA Division III. The combined 84 points was four shy of the mark set by New Jersey City versus Cairn March 29, 2005.

Illinois Wesleyan used 64 kills on a .331 attack percentage to collect the win, setting a new program record for most kills in a four-set contest. Additionally, the mark ranks second in any match, one shy of the 65 registered against Benedictine Feb. 9, 2025. The Green and White used advantages in kills (64-62), aces (5-3), and blocks (13-8), while each team totaled 60 assists. CUC notched the edge in digs, 51-47.

Senior Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East) led the offense with 16 kills, committing just one attack error to finish with a .600 clip. Sophomore Ethan Kuziela (Chicago, Ill.-Marist) was second with 15 to go along with a career-best 24 assists to notch the first double-double performance of his career. Junior Brenden Reutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) finished with a team-high 28 assists.

Defensively, sophomore Ben Zima (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard South) posted a career-high 17 digs to lead the Titan defense that limited the Cougars to a .181 showing. Sophomore Gavin Rohlwing (Tower Lake, Ill.-Barrington) and freshman Aydin Provost (Chicago, Ill.-Mount Carmel) recorded six blocks apiece, followed by five from freshman Dylan Quinn (Downers Grove, Ill.-Downers Grove North).

In the first set, the two teams traded points until four straight from the Titans saw them pull ahead. Reutter found Quinn for a kill, and Zima found junior Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney M. Young) on the ensuing point to make it 11-10. After an attack error, Kuziela aced the Cougars to bring the advantage to four, 13-10. 

Concordia Chicago trimmed the cushion down to one, 15-14, but Kuziela dished a set to Milka, who buried it to get the Green and White a sideout. Illinois Wesleyan never looked back as Provost unleashed one to snag the opening set, 25-21. 

Trailing by as many as five points, IWU used a late surge to steal momentum in the second set. Staring down set point, 24-22, Reutter fed Kuziela for a kill to spark a 4-1 run for the visitors, prompting a Cougars timeout. Out of the break, Williams solo stuffed an attack to level the score at 24. A service error gave Concordia Chicago another set point, but once again IWU responded. Provost buried a set from Kuziela, and an attack error cued a set point for the Titans, 26-25. 

The home team took the next two to keep the set alive before Provost notched another kill to even the score at 27. After an attack error, Milka ended the lengthy battle with a kill to take set two, 29-27.

Concordia Chicago ruined the sweep for the Titans, gutting out a 44-42 set three win to keep the match alive. 

All tied at five to start the fourth set, a service error sparked a 7-2 run for Illinois Wesleyan. Williams notched an ace to make it 8-5, and Milka followed a sideout with another kill. Rohlwing caught a hold of a set from Reutter, downing it on the 10-foot line to make it 13-9. 

IWU never let up in the fourth, and Kuziela and Rohlwing teamed up for a block to end the match in favor of the Titans, taking the fourth set 25-17.

The Titans remain on the road, heading to Madison, Wis., for a pair of contests Saturday, Jan. 17. Illinois Wesleyan will face University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 3 p.m. before taking on Edgewood College at 6 p.m.
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