River Forest, Ill. – Dominican University Men's Volleyball gears up for #14 Aurora University on Thursday for a rematch of the 2024 NACC Tournament Championship.
Series History vs. Aurora:
Dominican and Aurora first played on 2/28/2018 in River Forest, Ill. (W, 3-0)
All-Time Record / Streak: 10-2 / Dominican W3
Last Meeting (4/13/2024): Dominican 3, Aurora 1 (22-25, 25-22, 27-25, 25-23)
DU is 5-1 at home against Aurora.
DU in Review:
-The Stars hold a 5-6 record this season and are 2-0 in conference.
-Dominican began the 2025 season with three matches in Santa Cruz, California as part of the Slug Fest Tournament
-The Slug Fest Tournament marked the first time the Stars have traveled to the state of California since 2019, where they would drop a pair of matches to the University of California, Merced, and the University of California, Santa Cruz.
-The 2025 season marks the 2nd season with Head Coach Doug Burchett at the helm. The Stars finished the 2024 season with a record of 19-8 and were 11-1 in conference.
-DU heads into the 2025 season looking to defend their 2024 NACC Regular Season and Tournament titles.
Last Time Out:
-The Stars swept Marian University on Saturday (25-13, 25-14, 25-21).
-Sophomore Ty Geschke registered a team-leading 16 kills on .464 hitting.
-Senior Casey Goss collected 9 kills and 6 digs.
-Sophomore Thomas Hirsch posted 6 kills in the win.
Star Gazing:
-Sophomore Ty Geschke has led the attack for DU this season, averaging 3.38 kills per set on .278 hitting, and has started in 7 of Dominican's 11 matches.
-Senior Casey Goss averages 3.12 kills per set and leads the team in total kills with 134.
-Sophomore Grant Henderson has commanded the Star's defense with 102 total digs, leading the team in that category.
NACC Tournament Rematch:
-DU defeated Aurora 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 27-25, 25-23) to claim the NACC Tournament title in 2024.
-Senior Casey Goss totaled 16 kills and 3 blocks in the championship victory.
-Senior Jason Kougan notched 7 kills and 3 blocks in the match.
Wear Navy:
-The match on Thursday will be a Navy Out in the Igini Sports Forum.
-The first 100 students will receive a free navy DU Men’s Volleyball shirt.
Star of the Week:
-Sophomore Ty Geschke received Men’s Star of the Week honors for the week of February 16th to February 23rd.
-Geschke totaled 33 kills on .435 hitting while adding 4 aces and 3 blocks in Dominican’s two wins during the week.
Familiar Faces:
-Dominican has five of their top six kill leaders returning from the 2024 season, with Senior Casey Goss leading the way with 349 total kills, equaling 3.60 kills per set.
-Goss was awarded NACC Player of the Year honors in 2024 and was also an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American, AVCA All-West Regional Team, and NACC First Team All-Conference recipient. Goss led the Stars in kills, aces, digs, and sets played while being 3rd in total blocks.
-Junior Michael Greco and Senior Jason Kougan resume their roles as the Stars' pair at Middle Blocker. Greco paced Dominican in 2024 with 85 blocks, followed by Kougan's 83.
- Senior Owen Morrow returns as DU's setter. Morrow was able to tally 918 assists in the 2024 campaign and started in all of Dominican's 27 matches.
Scouting Report:
-#14 Aurora is 12-2 on the season and is a perfect 3-0 on the road.
-The Spartans went 2-0 at the Aurora Triangular, defeating NACC opponent St. Norbert College and Wabash College.
-AU hits at a .262 clip compared to their opponents’ .152 per match and averages 12.4 digs per set compared to 10.4 for its opponents.
