Santa Cruz, Cal. – Dominican University Men's Volleyball rounded out their trip to Santa Cruz with a pair of matches against New Paltz and California Lutheran.

 Match 1 vs. New Paltz:
 Results:
  Dominican: 3
  New Paltz: 1

  How it Happened:
  -Both squads would trade points early, but New Paltz would go on a 5-1 to take a 15-11 lead.
  -The Stars would battle back and take Set 1 25-23. Senior Casey Goss and Sophomore Thomas Hirsch registered three kills each in the opening frame.
  -Set 2 would see New Paltz jump out to an early lead, but three straight kills from Freshman Kendall Esparza regained the lead for Dominican at 9-8.
  -DU was able to protect the lead and win Set 2 25-22.
  -New Paltz would use three separate 4-0 runs in Set 3 to win 23-25 and push the match to a fourth set.
  -Dominican used a 5-0 serving run from Freshman Landon Kassulke and a 10-0 run from Goss to close out New Paltz in Set 4, 25-11.

  Shining Stars:
  -Senior Casey Goss paced the Stars offensively, collecting 16 kills on .324 hitting while adding 5 aces and 10 digs.  
  -Freshman Kendall Esparza notched 12 kills on an efficient .455 clip in his first collegiate start.
  -Sophomore Thomas Hirsch had 9 kills and hit .750 through the middle while contributing 2 solo blocks.
  -Freshman Landon Kassulke finished with 42 assists and an ace in his first collegiate start.  
  -Junior Tyler Vrska commanded the back row with 11 digs. 

  Leading the Way:
  Kills: Goss (16)
  Aces: Goss (5)
  Blocks: Hirsch (3)
  Assists: Kassulke (42)
  Digs: Vrska (11)
 
Match 2 vs. California Lutheran:
 Results:
  Dominican: 2
  California Lutheran: 3

  How it Happened:
  -The Stars would propel themselves ahead of Cal Lutheran with a 4-0 run early in Set 1.
  -DU would continue to click and win the first set, 25-17. Goss had five kills and a block assist in the frame.
  -Dominican was then able to outlast CLU in the second set, 25-19. Sophomore Ty Geschke contributed six kills in the 2^nd Set.
  -Cal Lutheran would strike back and take Set 3, 18-25. Goss would add four kills in the frame with four other Stars adding two each.
  -CLU would push the match to a 5^th Set after winning Set 4, 17-25. Senior Tanner Dahman contributed two kills and an ace.
  -The Stars were unable to deny the 2-0 comeback from Cal Lutheran and dropped Set 5 to the Kingsmen, 11-15. Hirsch and Dahman added two kills each and combined for a block in the final frame.
  -DU hit .289 collectively in the match and had 62 kills to Cal Lutheran's 52.

  Shining Stars:
  -Senior Casey Goss posted 21 kills on .325 hitting while collecting 7 digs and two block assists.  
  -Sophomore Ty Geschke notched 13 kills, 6 digs, and an ace.
  -Sophomore Thomas Hirsch had 9 kills at a .421 hitting percentage.
  -Senior Owen Morrow distributed 41 assists in the defeat.  
  -Sophomore Grant Henderson finished with 11 digs.    

  Leading the Way:
  Kills: Goss (21)
  Aces: Dahman, Geschke, Kougan (1)
  Blocks: Kougan and Goss (2)
  Assists: Morrow (41)
  Digs: Henderson (11)

  What's Next:
  Dominican University Men's Volleyball leaves California with a 1-2 record on the season. The Stars will have their home opener on Friday, January 24^th against North Park University. The match is slated to start at 7:00 p.m.

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