Men's Volleyball huddle at Carthage April 11, 2026

Men’s Volleyball Ends Historic Season

Titans finish with 22-6 record

4/13/2026 5:11:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - With the 21-team NCAA Tournament field revealed Monday, April 13, the 16th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team concludes its historic 2026 campaign with a 22-6 overall record.

The Titans, who were ranked 13th in the NPI rankings, were the first team out of the field, which is composed of 14 automatic bids from conference tournament championships and seven at-large teams. Illinois Wesleyan finished with a 3-4 record against teams in the tournament. IWU was bested thrice by Carthage, and suffered a five-set loss at Dominican, both teams that won its respective conference crown to be safely in the field. The Titans beat Loras College three times throughout the season, as the Duhawks snagged the final at-large bid into the field.

A sensational season saw a 10-win improvement from the 2025 campaign, aided by numerous program records falling. The Titan offense sits first nationally in kills per set (13.41) and in assists per set (12.35). Sophomore Ethan Kuziela (Chicago, Ill.-Marist) led Division III with five triple-double performances, while the Titans took down nearly every program record.

The Green and White also hauled in a slew of records for the first time. A program-best three Titans earned All-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin honors, as Kuziela became the first to be named to the first team. Sophomore Gavin Rohlwing (Tower Lake, Ill.-Barrington) brought in his second consecutive Second Team All-CCIW honor, the first Titan to earn multiple all-conference honors. Freshman Aydin Provost (Chicago, Ill.-Mount Carmel) reeled in the first specialty award, as he was named the CCIW First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year, as well as second team all-conference honors. Head Coach Brandon Mueller and his staff of Mike Eastman, Alec Mucha, and Joe McDonagh were named the CCIW Coaching Staff of the Year after finishing second in the loaded conference with an 8-2 record. The mark helped IWU secure the second seed in the CCIW Tournament, the first appearance in program history.

Illinois Wesleyan also saw its first American Volleyball Coaches Association honors, as Kuziela was named to the All-Region team. Mueller was tabbed the AVCA Region IV Coach of the Year for the first time in his career.

Record performances led to a record number of Titans being named players of the week. Kuziela totaled five CCIW Setter of the Week honors, was once named the CCIW Hitter of the Week, and earned the program's second AVCA National Player of the Week accolade. Provost earned CCIW Hitter of the Week honors four times, while Rohlwing and sophomore Ben Zima (Glen Ellyn, Ill.-Glenbard South) were each tabbed the CCIW Defensive Player of the Week once.

Illinois Wesleyan is set to return all but one of its 2026 roster, with senior Jace Milka (Bolingbrook, Ill.-Plainfield East) graduating. Milka closed his career as the all-time leader in career digs (564) and is within the top-10 in kills, aces, aces per set, and digs per set.

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