River Forest, Ill. – The Dominican University Women's Volleyball team returns to the Igini Sports Forum after a 6-match road trip. The Stars will take on the Scarlett Hawks.
 
Series History vs. Illinois Tech: 
All-Time Record/Streak: 5-5/L4
-The first time these two schools played was on October 23^rd, 2010, inside the Igini Sports Forum. The Scarlett Knights won 3-1.
Dominican held a 5-game win streak against Illinois Tech from 10/30/2015 to 10/5/2021. In these five matches the Stars swept the Scarlett Hawks 3 times.
-Only two of the 10 matches have gone 5 sets, with Illinois Tech winning both 5 set matches.
-In the last two meetings the Scarlett Hawks have swept Dominican.  
-DUWVB is 1-4 inside the Igini against Illinois Tech.
 
 
 
DU in Review:   
-DUWVB is 0-18 in the 2026 season. They recently lost to St. Norbert on the road. This match will be the second match inside the Igini Sports Forum.
-Dominican completed the 2025 season with a 2-21 record, including going 1-12 in the conference and 1-9 at home.   
-The Stars missed out on the 2025 NACC Tournament. DU's last conference tournament appearance came in the shortened 2020 season.   
-Head Coach Oliva Kofie starts her 3rd season as Dominican's Head Coach.   
  
Familiar Faces:   
-Senior Kathryn Ksiezak started in 23 matches last season and was 3rd in kills with 66 while also leading her team in blocks with 38 in her junior campaign.    
-Senior Jillian Ross looks to finish her senior year strong. In the 2025 season, Ross started in 23 matches where she collected 42 kills and 18 blocks.    
-Sophomore Karolina Stonkus led her team with 411 assists and 29 service aces. Stonkus also had 34 kills.    
-Junior Fabianna Pizzo looks to continue to be a rock for DU. Last season she played in 23 matches while collecting 255 digs.    
 
Last Time Out: 
-Dominican fell 3-0 to the St. Norbert College Green Knights.  
-Sophomore Olivia Pollak had 5 kills and collected 8 assists.
-Senior Jillian Ross had 5 kills on 13 attacks while also collecting a block assist.
-Freshman Mawedda Abu-Shukhaidem tallied a kill and 9 assists.
-Freshman Kaitlyn Stanek collected a solo block and a block assist.
-Freshman Gracelynn Perry led the team with 11 digs and had 2 service aces.  
 
Shining Stars: 
-Sophomore Karolina Stonkus leads her team with 60 kills while also tallying 41 assists and 10 service aces and is tied for most block assists on her team with 3. 
-Sophomore Olivia Pollak is making an impact after being injured last season. Pollak has collected 64 kills, she has 123 assists and 100 digs. 
-Junior Ella Murray showed off on the offensive side for her season in a Stars uniform with 47 kills. 
-Senior Kathryn Ksiezak has been solid on both offense and defense, she has 4 blocks and leads her team for most block assists with 3 while also having 53 kills. 
-Freshman Kaitlyn Stanek has had a strong start to her Dominican Volleyball career. Stanek has had 25 kills and 9 blocks with 4 solo blocks.  
-Freshman Mawedda Abu-Shukhaidem has been solid in a Dominican uniform, tallying 140 assists. 
-Freshman Gracelynn Perry has collected 9 aces, 13 assists, and 96 digs.
 
Scouting Report vs. St. Norbert:   
-Illinois Tech is 12-7 overall on the season and 3-2 inside the NACC.
-The Scarlett Hawks are 3-3 on the road so far this season, with their last road contest being a 3-0 loss to Wisconsin Lutheran. This game at DU wraps up three straight road matches for Illinois Tech.
-The Scarlett Hawks are 3-2 in their last 5 conference matches, beating CUW, Marian, and CUC. While losing to WLC and Aurora.
-Illinois Tech has collected 825 kills on the season, while their opponents have 711 kills against them. On the defensive side, they earned 18.1 digs per set.
  
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