Men's Volleyball starters huddle before facing No. 10 Loras March 25, 2026

Audrey Peterson

No. 17 Men’s Volleyball Heads to North Park for Final Regular Season Road Trip

Titans check in at No. 17 in latest AVCA Poll

3/31/2026 3:30:00 PM

AVCA Release

LEXINGTON, Ky. & BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The No. 17 Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team will embark on its final road trip of the regular season, heading to North Park University Wednesday, April 1. The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin clash is set to begin at 7 p.m. inside Carlson Gymnasium.

After a 2-0 week, including a sweep of No. 10 Loras College, IWU (20-4, 7-1 CCIW) moved up three spots in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll, checking in at No. 17 Tuesday, March 31. Two weeks after cracking into the rankings for the first time in program history, the Titans improve to its best ranking all-time. Illinois Wesleyan is one of three CCIW schools in the top-20, joining No. 4 Carthage College, and 10th-ranked Loras. The Green and White is 3-3 against ranked opponents, with two wins over the Duhawks, and a sweep of No. 14 Milwaukee School of Engineering, and has losses to Carthage, No. 12 Aurora University, T-No. 20 Dominican University.

Illinois Wesleyan enter the midweek match off a four-set win at North Central College Saturday, March 28, with the victory securing the team's first 20-win season and hosting rights to a CCIW Tournament Semifinal match. Sophomore Ethan Kuziela (Chicago, Ill.-Marist) notched his fifth triple-double performance of the season, a stat he leads all of Division III in. The reigning CCIW Hitter of the Week put up 23 kills on a .400 clip, 20 assists, 13 digs, seven blocks, and an ace. Junior Brenden Reutter (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) led the team with a career-best 33 assists, helping land him CCIW Setter of the Week honors. Completing the weekly award sweep for the Titans, sophomore Gavin Rohlwing (Tower Lake, Ill.-Barrington) earned CCIW Defensive Player of the Week honors after tying his career-high of nine blocks.

One of the most dominant offenses in the nation, IWU leads the country in kills per set with an average of 13.54. Kuziela leads the team in kills with 293 on the season, as the sophomore is averaging 3.26 per set on an efficient .351 attack percentage. Freshman Aydin Provost (Chicago, Ill.-Mount Carmel) closely follows with 280, an average of 3.29 per set on a .291 clip. Junior Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.-Whitney M. Young) rounds out the top-three with 212 kills, averaging 2.65 per set. Kuziela and senior Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East) lead the team in aces with 23 apiece, while Williams is third with 20.

IWU also has one of the best setter duos nationally, as Kuziela and Reutter are helping lead a squad that averages 12.41 assists per set. Kuziela sits atop the team with 573 assists, an average of 6.37 per set. Reutter, who recently became the second Titan to surpass 1000 career assists, has 391 helpers on the year, good for an average of 4.95 per set.

Defensively, sophomore Ben Zima (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard South) has been a rock in the back row, having accumulated 253 digs on the season. His average of 2.81 per set ranks 20th across Division III. Kuziela and Williams follow with 161 and 131 digs, respectively. Rohlwing leads the team at the net with 63 blocks, while Kuziela closely follows with 61. Provost rounds out the top three with 49 rejections. Together the IWU defense enters Wednesday's match limiting its opponents to a .188 attack percentage.

IWU and NPU (1-22, 0-8 CCIW) will meet for the 14th time, with the Vikings holding an 8-5 edge in the series. As of recently, the Titans have been in control, having won five of the last six meetings, including two straight. Earlier this season, the Green and White swept North Park Saturday, March 7. Kuziela controlled the offense with team-highs of 12 kills and two aces, while Reutter tallied a team-best 18 assists. Kuziela and sophomore Wilson Spaulding (Tucson, Ariz.-Catalina Foothills) tied for the team-lead in blocks, each notching three stuffs. Zima led the way with 13 digs. The Vikings most recently fell in straight sets to Loras Saturday, March 28.

NPU will be providing a live stream, which can be found here, while live stats can be accessed by clicking here.

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