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Men's Volleyball celebrating the win over North Central Feb. 28, 2026
Kodiak Creative
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North Central (IL) NCC 7-7,1-2 CCIW
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Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 14-4,2-1 CCIW
North Central (IL) NCC
7-7,1-2 CCIW
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Final
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Ill. Wesleyan IWU
14-4,2-1 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
North Central (IL) NCC 18 25 25 22 8 (2)
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 18 23 25 15 (3)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball |

Men’s Volleyball Downs North Central in Five-Set Thriller

Titans defeat Cardinals for first time in program history

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - For the first time in program history, the Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team defeated North Central College, as the Titans downed the Cardinals in a five-set thriller inside Shirk Center Saturday, Feb. 28, with set scores of 25-18, 18-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-8. The win boosts the Green and White to 14-4, and 2-1 in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin action, while NCC slips to 7-7 overall, 1-2 in league play.

Illinois Wesleyan's offense was powered by a triple-double performance from sophomore Ethan Kuziela (Chicago, lll.-Marist), his fourth of the year. Kuziela posted a team-high and career-best 20 kills on a .444 showing, 27 assists, and 12 digs. The Green and White saw four Titans post double-digit kills in the contest. Junior Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney M. Young) and freshman Aydin Provost (Chicago, Ill.-Mount Carmel) followed Kuziela with 15 and 13 kills, respectively, while sophomore Gavin Rohlwing (Tower Lake, Ill.-Barrington) tacked on 10. 

Kuziela and junior Brenden Reutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) orchestrated the dominant IWU defense, which finished hitting .253. Reutter tallied a team-leading 32 assists, tying his career-high. 

Defensively, sophomore Ben Zima (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard South) finished with 13 digs. Senior Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East) added 11, followed by nine from Reutter. Kuziela and sophomore Wilson Spaulding (Tucson, Ariz.-Catalina Foothills) led the net defense, as the sophomore duo finished with five blocks apiece. Rohlwing finished closely behind, as he tallied four rejections. 

The Green and White opened the first set hot, racing to an 8-2 lead, which featured six straight points. All tied at two, Reutter fed Kuziela for a kill, and Williams followed by tooling the block. The next point featured a Spaulding-Kuziela rejection, and Kuziela stayed hot with another kill to follow. An ace from Rohlwing brought up an early timeout from the Cardinals, trailing 7-2. NCC added an error out of the break before the visitors could get a sideout. 

IWU never trailed in the opener, as Zima found Williams for a kill to close out set one, 25-18.

After dropping the next two sets, 25-18 and 25-23, the Titans rallied back in the fourth. Kuziela dropped in one of his 20 kills early in set four, sparking a key 10-2 run that saw momentum swing back for the home team. Spaulding and Williams sent a Cardinals attack back for a block, and an NCC miscue made it 6-3 in favor of IWU. 

Following a sideout, the Green and White took the next five points, beginning with Williams tooling the block. The junior paired up with Provost for back-to-back stuffs, cuing a North Central timeout. Kuziela fed Williams' hot hand for another kill, and followed with an ace. The Titans got the ball back quickly after a sideout via kills from Williams and Spaulding, putting IWU ahead, 13-5.

The Cardinals clawed back to cut the gap to two, 23-21, forcing head coach Brandon Mueller to call timeout. The break proved to be pivotal for the Titans, as Reutter found Williams to set up set point, 24-21, and followed two points later by finding Kuziela to steal set four, 25-22. 

All tied at five in the fifth set, junior Patrick Dasbach (Lombard, Ill.-Willowbrook) roped a ball sent over prematurely, and then tooled the block to give Illinois Wesleyan a 7-5 edge. An attack error gave the Green and White an 8-6 advantage as the teams switched sides, prompting a North Central timeout. 

The Titans dominated the rest of the way, closing out on an 8-2 run. After an NCC error, Rohlwing and Kuziela rejected an attack, putting all momentum in favor of the home team. Reutter set Kuziela for a kill, followed by a Milka ace, and two straight Cardinals attack errors led to match point for the Green and White, 14-7. NCC stayed alive on a kill, but Rohlwing roped one down to end the fifth set, and the match, 15-8.

Illinois Wesleyan will travel to No. 11 Loras College Wednesday night, March 4, for a CCIW clash. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Lillis Athletic & Wellness Center.
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