McLean County Times

Celebrating its first senior class, the Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team faced a defeat against Augustana College on Sunday, March 24. The Titans' record now stands at 10-12 overall and 1-6 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW), while Augustana improves to 17-4 with a conference record of 4-3.

The Titans recognized nine seniors during the event: Bradley Benson, Michael Eastman, Blake McGlashan-Bryant, KJ Johnson, Adam Blackmore, Michael Anderson, Julian Perez, Alec Mucha, and Javier Romano. Additionally, Vic Gomez was acknowledged for his contributions as a three-year team member who graduated early in December.

Michael Eastman achieved a significant milestone by becoming the first Titan in program history to surpass 1000 career points with a kill in the second set.

Illinois Wesleyan struggled against Augustana's strong offensive play. The Vikings finished with an impressive .390 attack percentage compared to IWU's .071. Augie also led in several statistical categories including kills (40-27), assists (35-27), digs (39-30), blocks (6-1), and aces (5-3).

Eastman and freshman Bryce Williams each recorded eight kills for the Titans. Mucha and junior Ryan Myers contributed four kills each. Junior Vince DiCosola provided a team-high of 12 assists while Benson and freshman Brenden Reutter added six assists apiece.

Defensively, Williams had seven digs to lead the team followed by Eastman's five. Sophomore Jace Milka added four digs.

Looking ahead, the Titans will host Carthage College on Wednesday night, March 27 for their home finale in another CCIW match-up at Shirk Center starting at 7 p.m.