Wabash battled in three close sets in Tuesday evening's volleyball home opener in a 3-0 loss to Illinois Wesleyan University.
 
Wabash (2-1) trailed the visiting Titans (1-0) 19-13 in the opening set after tying the score twice before closing the deficit to 22-20. Ricky Sessions caught the hot hand with three consecutive serves that led to points for the Little Giants, with the last point coming on a kill by Luke Davis. Illinois Wesleyan answered the Wabash rally to score the final three points to take the first set 25-20.
 
The Titans led throughout the second set despite Wabash matching them kill for kill. The Little Giants finished the second set with nine kills, led by three from Jackson Leeper. Illinois Wesleyan put away ten kills in the set, paced by four each for Luke Hartke and Michael Eastman. Wabash got to within a point at 14-13 before the Titans pushed the lead to six points and an eventual 25-20 victory.
 
The third set featured six ties and three lead changes. Wabash took the early lead on three separate occasions before Illinois Wesleyan evened the score at 8-8. The Titans claimed a 13-1 lead before pushing the advantage to 22-17 before Sessions mounted another rally from serve for Wabash. The Little Giants scored three consecutive points to close the gap to 22-20 before Illinois Wesleyan regained control and put away the final three points for a 25-20 win and the 3-0 match victory.
 
Patrick Volk led Wabash with eight kills in the match. Sessions added five kills, and Davis and Leeper each recorded four kills. Will Beikes scored 12 assists with only one error in 37 total attempts for a .324 set percentage. Davis led Wabash with 17 receptions. Beikes posted a team-high eight digs in the three sets.
 
Wabash travels to the Chicagoland area January 27-28 for matches against North Park, Benedictine, and Trine.