Chicago, Ill. – Dominican University Men's Volleyball begins its season on the road at North Park on Friday.

Series History vs. North Park:
All-Time Record / Streak: 4-0 / W4
-Dominican and North Park first played on 2/8/2019 in River Forest, Ill. (W, 3-0).
-The Stars have never dropped a set to the Vikings in their four meetings.
-Dominican is 1-0 away from home against North Park.
-In their last meeting, DU hit .325 and was led by Graduate Student Casey Goss, who notched 13 kills in a 3-0 win on 1/24/2025.
 
DU in Review:
-The Stars finished the 2025 season with a 14-11 record and went 9-3 in conference.
-Dominican spent the preseason abroad in Italy, Croatia, and Slovenia to tune up for the 2026 campaign.
 -The 2026 season marks the 3^rd season with Head Coach Doug Burchett at the helm. Burchett has amassed a 33-19 record since becoming head coach at Dominican.

Familiar Faces:
-Junior Ty Geschke returns from a strong Sophomore season. Geschke led the Stars in kills (275) and kills per set (3.62), was second in aces (56), and was third in blocks (38.0).
-Graduate Student Casey Goss will assume his place as the starting opposite hitter for DU, following up a Senior season that included 165 kills, 47 aces, and 22 blocks.
-Sophomore Kendall Esparza is back to don the Navy and Gold and looks to build upon a Freshman season of 82 kills, 23 aces, 45 digs, and 9 starts.
-Senior Michael Greco, Junior Thomas Hirsch, and Freshman Landon Diaz look to solidify the middle blocking position for Dominican. Hirsch led all middle blockers with 96 kills, while Greco led the 2025 squad in blocks with 44.0.
-Senior Tyler Vrska and Junior Grant Henderson return as the libero duo for the Stars. Henderson led DU with 126 digs last season, while Vrska finished fourth with 112.
 
Scouting Report:
-North Park finished the 2025 season with a 10-17 record, including a 2-8 record in the CCIW.
-The Vikings did not qualify for the 2025 CCIW tournament and finished the season on a four-match losing streak.
-NP hit at a .183 clip, averaging 11.2 kills per set, 10.4 assists per set, and 10.5 digs per set.