Brandon Mueller in a huddle against Loras March 25, 2026

Audrey Peterson

No. 20 Men’s Volleyball Set to Face North Central

Titans look to lock up hosting rights for CCIW Tournament Semifinal

3/27/2026 12:30:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Fresh off an exhilarating top-10 win, the No. 20 Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team heads to North Central College for a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Saturday, March 28. First serve is set for 3 p.m. inside Gregory Arena.

The Titans (19-4, 6-1 CCIW) enter the contest off a dominant sweep of No. 10 Loras College Wednesday night, March 25, increasing their win streak to seven. Sophomore Ethan Kuziela (Chicago, Ill.-Marist) continued his dominant season with a team-high 14 kills on a .481 clip, to go along with 12 assists, seven digs, five blocks, and a pair of aces. Junior Brenden Reutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) helped facilitate the hot-hitting IWU offense, which finished the night hitting .423, with 20 assists. The historic showing saw the junior eclipse the 1000 career assists mark, becoming the second Titan to do so. Sophomore Ben Zima (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard South) and junior Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney M. Young) tied with Kuziela for the team-high in digs, as the trio each tallied seven. Sophomore Gavin Rohlwing (Tower Lake, Ill.-Barrington) led the tough net defense, finishing with a team-best six blocks.

A win Saturday would guarantee Illinois Wesleyan hosting rights for a CCIW Tournament Semifinal, as the Titans would lock up a top-two seed. The Green and White is set to make its first postseason appearance. A victory would also give IWU its first 20-win season in program history.

Illinois Wesleyan leads the nation in kills per set, averaging 13.44. Kuziela sits atop the team with 270 kills, an average of 3.14 per set on an efficient .347 attack percentage. Freshman Aydin Provost (Chicago, Ill.-Mount Carmel) closely follows with 267 kills, as the rookie is averaging 3.30 per set on a .300 clip. Williams rounds out the top three hitters with 208 kills, good for an average of 2.74 per set. Kuziela is tied for the team lead in aces, as he and senior Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East) each have 22. Williams follows with 20 aces on the season.

The Titans also have one of the best setter tandems in the nation, as their average of 12.30 assists per set leads the CCIW and ranks third in Division III, while the team hitting percentage of .270 ranks 23rd. Kuziela leads the way with 553 assists, as the multi-dimensional setter is averaging 6.43 per set. Reutter is second on the squad with 358 assists, an average of 4.77 per set.

Defensively, Zima leads the team with 242 digs, with his 2.81 per set ranking 17th nationally. Kuziela's 148 is good for second, followed by Williams with 122. The Green and White's net defense is also one of the best in Division III, as its average of 2.0 blocks per set sits 28th across the country. Kuziela and Rohlwing are tied for the team lead, as both have 54 blocks on the season. Provost is third on the team with 48 rejections.

IWU will meet NCC (10-9, 4-3 CCIW) on the court for the 12th time, with the Cardinals holding a 10-1 advantage in the series. The Titans picked up their first head-to-head win earlier this season, downing North Central in five sets Saturday, Feb. 28. Kuziela paced the offense with 20 kills on a .444 showing, along with 27 assists and 12 digs to complete one of his four triple-double performances on the year, the most in the nation. Reutter tallied a team-high 32 assists, while Zima powered the defense with 13 digs. Kuziela and sophomore Wilson Spaulding (Tucson, Ariz.-Catalina Foothills) tied for the team-lead in blocks with five apiece. NCC most recently fell to 11th-ranked University of California-Santa Cruz in straight sets Wednesday night, March 25. IWU will see a familiar face on the other bench, as Vince DiCosola is an assistant coach for the Cardinals. DiCosola was a member of the Green and White from 2022-25, and graduated as the program's assists leader, finishing his career with 1,454.

North Central will be providing a live stream, which can be found here, while live stats can be tracked by clicking here.

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