River Forest, Ill. – The Dominican University Men's Volleyball team hosted Augustana College for their home opener on Friday night.
 
 Results:
  Dominican: 3
  Augustana: 0

  How it Happened:
  -Junior Ty Geschke and Sophomore Kendall Esparza got the Stars off on the right foot, getting the first three kills.
-Augustana found themselves up 8-6 before a 4-0 by Graduate Student Casey Goss from the service line, with help from Esparza earning 2 kills in this stretch.
-Dominican did not look back after that run, winning the set 25-21. Esparza and Geschke each collected 4 kills with Senior Michael Greco, Junior Thomas Hirsch and Goss all adding 2 kills.
-DU had a .222 hitting percentage in the first set.
-The Vikings started hot in the second set, starting on a 6-3 run, before Geschke and Goss landed back-to-back kills.
-Goss once again took the Stars on a 4-0 run, taking a 7-6 deficit to a 9-7 lead.
-Dominican kept the momentum rolling after the run with Esparza knocking down back-to-back service aces.
-Hirsch then brought a 4-0 run for the Stars that made the score 16-9.
-DU was on fire towards the end of the second set, scoring the final 6 of the final 8 points, which ended in an Esparza ace.
-Dominican had 6 kills in the second set but had 12 blocks as a team in the second set. Including 3 by Hirsch, 4 by Geschke and 3 by Greco.
-The Stars did not let the Vikings start hot in this third set, by having DU start on a 5-1 run with Esparza and Hirsch at service.
-DU kept the foot on the gas, bringing the lead to 18-9 in the latter half of the third set.
-Augustana did not go away without a fight, bringing the score back to 24-21 before a service error that gave Dominican the 25-21 win. 
 
-The Stars collected 14 total blocks in the match, with Hirsch leading the way with 7 total blocks. 6 of them being block assists.
-Dominican rallied 7 aces in the match.

  Shining Stars:
  -Senior Michael Greco earned player of the game in tonight's match, collecting 4 kills while hitting .500. The senior also added 4 blocks.
-Sophomore Kendall Esparza led the way on the offensive side with 10 kills and 3 service aces.
-Junior Ty Geschke has continued to be a factor for this Dominican squad, collecting 8 kills, 5 total blocks, and 6 digs.
-Junior Thomas Hirsch was all over the net, earning 7 total blocks.
-Sophomore Landon Kassulk collected 27 assists in the 3-set victory along with 2 kills.  
 
  Leading the Way:
  Kills: Esparza (10)
  Aces: Esparza (3)
  Blocks: Hirsch (7)
  Assists: Kassulke (27)
  Digs: Henderson (12)

  What's Next:
  Dominican University Men's Volleyball improved to 2-0 (0-0 NACC) on the 2026 season. The Stars will be right back in action tomorrow afternoon when the Bulldogs of Adrian College come to the Igini Sports Forum. First-serve is set for 2:00 p.m.

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