NAPERVILLE, Ill. - The No. 20 Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team won a key College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin battle Saturday, March 28 at North Central College in Naperville, Ill. The Titans continue to sit atop the league standings in a tie with Carthage College as the 3-1 win over the Cardinals, behind set scores of 22-25, 25-21, 25-15, and 31-29, pushed their record to 20-4 and 7-1 in league play. NCC falls to 10-10 on the season and 4-4 in CCIW matches.

The win locks up a top-two seed in the CCIW Tournament Semifinals, guaranteeing a home game to open the tournament Wednesday, April 8. It will be IWU's first postseason appearance, and the first time the Shirk Center will host a conference tournament contest for men's volleyball. The victory also secures the Titans' first 20-win season in program history. 

Sophomore Ethan Kuziela (Chicago, Ill.-Marist) led the Titans with this fifth triple-double of the season. He finished with a career-high tying 23 kills, 20 assists, and 13 digs in the all-around effort. Offensively, freshman Aydin Provost (Chicago, Ill.-Mount Carmel) followed with 13 kills. Sophomore Gavin Rohlwing (Tower Lake, Ill.-Barrington) rounded out the double-digit kill performances with 10. Junior Brenden Reutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) led the way with 33 assists, establishing a new career-high in helpers. 

Sophomore Ben Zima (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard South) was second on the team in digs with 11, while Rohlwing led the team at the net. He finished with career-high nine blocks, while Kuziela nearly completed the quadruple-double with seven rejections. Junior Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney M. Young) finished with six stuffs. 

After dropping the opening set, 25-22, the Titans responded in the second. Down 10-9, IWU used three straight points to go ahead, 12-10. Reutter found Rohlwing and Kuziela for back-to-back kills, and Williams and Rohlwing paired up for a block to follow, swinging momentum to the Titans, 12-10. 

North Central kept it close, but the Green and White got a sideout thanks to another kill from Rohlwing, as he downed a dish from Kuziela. Reutter fed Kuziela for a kill, making it 18-15, as NCC called a timeout. 

Following a service error out of the break, the Green and White took four of the next five points to build its lead, beginning with a senior Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East) kill. After an attack error, Williams and Rohlwing teamed up for another rejection, increasing the gap to four, 21-17. 

Kuziela unleashed an ace to cue set point, and after two straight IWU errors, Provost locked set two in favor of the visitors with a kill, 25-21. 

Illinois Wesleyan commanded the third set from start to finish, beginning with a 9-0 run to open. Reutter fired off back-to-back aces before finding Kuziela's hot hand for a kill. Kuziela and Rohlwing paired up for a block on the ensuing point, and an attack error by the home team led to a North Central timeout, 5-0. Once again, Rohlwing and Kuziela sent an attack back for a block, before Rohlwing downed the ball after an attack error. Reutter found Kuziela for a kill to close out the opening run. 

Provost sandwiched attack errors with a kill, upping the Titans' cushion to 11. IWU coasted the rest of the set, taking it 25-15. 

Trailing 19-14 in the fourth, a block by sophomore Wilson Spaulding (Tucson, Ariz.-Catalina Foothills) and Provost sparked a 4-1 run for the Titans. 

Facing set point, head coach Brandon Mueller used a timeout to calm his team down. The break worked, as Williams tooled the block to tie the set, and Provost pushed IWU in front, 25-24, forcing North Central to call a timeout. NCC kept its hopes alive with a kill, but Provost unleashed one to make it 26-25. 

NCC and IWU traded set points before a Kuziela kill from Reutter knotted it up at 29. A Cardinal error gave the Titans set point, 30-29, and Illinois Wesleyan took full advantage. Kuziela and Reutter teamed up again to put the set away and secure the 3-1 CCIW win. 

With just two regular season games remaining, IWU travels to North Park University for a midweek date in Chicago, Ill. Wednesday, April 1. First serve is set for 7 p.m.