McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University men's volleyball team faced a challenging match against Augustana College, resulting in a four-set loss on Wednesday night. The Titans' record now stands at 10-8 overall and 1-2 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) play. Augustana improved to 14-2 overall and 1-1 in the CCIW with set scores of 25-12, 26-24, 21-25, and 25-22.

Junior Vince DiCosola achieved a milestone by becoming the first player in the program's history to surpass 1,000 assists. He led his team with a total of 17 assists during the match.

Freshman Bryce Williams was at the forefront of IWU's offense with nine kills. Seniors Michael Eastman and Julian Perez contributed seven and six kills respectively. Freshman Brenden Reutter supported DiCosola with an additional 16 assists. Eastman and senior Alec Mucha each recorded three aces, while Mucha also made four blocks for his team. Eastman led defensively with six digs.

Despite their efforts, IWU finished with a .113 hitting percentage from their total of 36 kills on 106 attempts. Augustana managed to secure advantages across various metrics including digs (39-31), blocks (7-5), and assists (40-36). Although IWU held a lead in service aces at 9-7, they were hindered by committing 19 serving errors.

In the opening set, Augustana dominated with a .526 hitting percentage leading to a decisive win at 25-12. The Titans rallied in the second set but fell short after tying it late due to errors that allowed Augie to clinch it at 26-24.

IWU claimed victory in the third set by capitalizing on opponents' mistakes for a final score of 25-21 but couldn't maintain momentum into the fourth set where Augustana secured their win at 25-22.

Looking ahead, Illinois Wesleyan will travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin for their next match against Carthage College this Saturday at Tarble Arena.