The Muskies and Titans are meeting for the third straight year, and Illinois Wesleyan has won the first two meetings which were both competitive contests. IWU won the first-ever meeting between the teams Jan. 21, 2024 at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium, coming back from two sets down for a 23-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-17, 15-10 win. and then last year claimed a 25-15, 22-25, 25-19, 25-18 four-set victory at home in Bloomington, Ill., despite 18 kills from Ben Busalacchi.

Lakeland last time out: Defeated Maranatha Bapist 3-0; Defeated Olivet 3-0 yesterday
The Muskies continued a busy first 10 days of their season, winning both of their matches in their first home triangular of the season. Lakeland rolled to a 25-13, 25-11, 25-14 victory over Maranatha Baptist and then topped Olivet 25-12, 25-17, 29-27. Joe Butterfield starred in the first match with 13 kills in 17 attacks for a .765 attack percentage, tying the program record for hitting percentage in a match first set by Desmond Williams in 2019. Butterfield also added four of Lakeland's 12 service aces against Maranatha, while Connor Lewis also chipped in seven kills and two aces, Drake Schliehs finished with five kills and six digs and Blake Schultz finished with 19 assists.

The Muskies also were in control for much of their second match against Olivet, dominating the first two sets and then pulling out the final set after the Comets came back from seven points down to take a late lead. Jakob Donohue finished with eight kills, Chase Anderson posted 26 assists plus four kills and Eli Weinrich added six kills, six digs and four service aces. Luke Schultz also totaled nine digs.

Illinois Wesleyan last time out: Defeated UW-Stevens Point 3-2; Won at Edgewood 3-0 yesterday
The Titans were also in Wisconsin yesterday for a triangular, playing in Madison in an event hosted by Edgewood. IWU outlasted Stevens Point 24-26, 28-26, 21-25, 25-16, 15-10 to win its first match, and then handled the host Eagles 25-20, 25-23, 25-16 in their second match. Bryce Williams racked up 19 kills in the opener, Ethan Kuziela added 15 kills and Aydein Provost also posted 11 kills, 11 digs and four service aces in the win over the Pointers. The Titans also had an up-and-down first two sets against Edgewood, rallying in the first set before holding on to win the second set, but IWU jumped out to an 8-1 lead in rolling through the third set. Provost finished with 10 kills and Williams added eight kills and three aces. Illinois Wesleyan finished 12-12 overall last year and 2-8 in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin, its best season since its varsity program debut in 2021.