McLean County Times

Facing the top-ranked New York University, Illinois Wesleyan University's men's volleyball team was defeated in straight sets during the Morgan Classic Championship at Springfield College. The match took place on Saturday night, February 15. The Titans lost with set scores of 25-18, 25-14, and 25-23. This defeat concludes their non-conference season with a record of 10-4, while NYU remains undefeated at 13-0.

Sophomore Brenden Reutter from Frankfort and freshman Ethan Kuziela from Chicago were recognized for their performance by being named to the all-tournament team. Despite both teams achieving 36 kills each, IWU had an attack percentage of .250 compared to NYU's .423. The Titans outperformed in assists (34-31) and digs (26-23) but lagged behind in aces (8-1) and blocks (6-3).

Reutter, Kuziela, and sophomore Bryce Williams led IWU's offense with seven kills each. Reutter also contributed a team-high of 16 assists, closely followed by senior Vince DiCosola with 15 assists. Junior Jace Milka recorded seven digs for the team.

During the first set, despite trailing early on, IWU managed to close the gap to three points after a kill by Trey Marek and an ace by Ben Zima. However, NYU quickly regained control to win the set 25-18.

In the second set, IWU again found themselves behind early but narrowed the deficit to two points before NYU went on a run that secured them a 25-14 victory.

The third set was more competitive as IWU rallied from a three-point deficit to take their first lead at 19-18 after several successful plays including kills by Rohlwing and Williams. Nevertheless, NYU ultimately claimed victory in this set as well with a score of 25-23.

IWU will next face No.19 North Central College at home on Tuesday night as they begin their College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin schedule.