River Forest, Ill. – The Dominican University Men's Volleyball team hosted the University of Mount Union in their second match of a double-header Saturday.
 
 Results:
  Dominican: 3
  Mount Union: 0

  How it Happened:
-Dominican and Mount Union traded the first points of the match until the Stars pulled out a 3-0 run that gave them the 10-8 lead. Junior Thomas Hirsch had 2 kills in this mini run.
-The first set remained close, with the Purple Raiders creating a mini run to regain the lead in the middle portion of the first set.
-Junior Ty Geschke gave DU a 20-19 lead that the Stars did not look back on in the first set. Graduate student Casey Goss wrapped the set in a bow with back-to-back kills to give DU a 25-22 victory in set one.
-The kills were spread out in the first set, with Geschke leading the way with 5 kills. Right behind the Junior was Hirsch and Sophomore Kendall Esparza had 4 kills, and Goss had 3.
-The second set started similarly, with both schools going point for point, until Dominican went on a 5-1 run to give the Stars a 12-8 lead in the middle portion of the second set.
-DU managed to extend their lead as the set went on with a 9-3 run to close out the second set.
-Kills were flying all over the place in this run, with Geschke and Esparza each earning two, and Goss and Hirsch both adding another.
-Esparza added 5 kills in that set, while Geschke added 4. Both Esparza and Geschke had 9 kills after two sets.
-DU found themselves down 8-6 early in the third set. A couple of Purple Raiders errors put the Stars on the right track and allowed for a 6-0 run to give Dominican a 12-8 lead.
-Mount Union clawed back into the set, tying it up at 17, before Esparza notched another kill that ignited the Stars to the sweep, and went on an 8-3 run to end the match. The four horses for the Stars all earned kills in this final run to push Dominican to the 2-0 day and 6-0 set day.
-Dominican as a team collected 44 kills and had a .344% hitting percentage, while only recording 11 errors in the match. The Stars' defense continued to be phenomenal, earning 11 blocks in the match.

  Shining Stars:
-Sophomore Kendall Esparza earned Star of the Match, posting 13 kills while hitting .545%. The Sophomore also collected 4 service aces.
-Junior Ty Geschke has continued to roll earning 11 kills.
-Graduate Student Casey Goss is starting to find his stride with 8 kills, while hitting .412%.
-Junior Thomas Hirsch has continued to be on a tear on both ends of the court. Hirsch put his name in the Dominican record book with 9 total blocks in a single match. The Junior also collected 6 kills and hit .667%.
-Sophomore Landon Kassulke has dished the ball out like it's nothing, adding 34 assists to his name. Kassulke included 4 blocks in the stat sheet.
-Senior Tyler Vrska led the squad in digs with 9.  

  Leading the Way:
  Kills: Esparza (13)
  Aces: Esparza (4)
  Blocks: Hirsch (9)
  Assists: Kassulke (34)
  Digs: Vrska (9)

  What's Next:
Dominican University Men's Volleyball improves to 7-1 (1-0 NACC) on the 2026 season. The Stars will wrap up a 5-game homestand on Thursday, February 12th, with a possible ranked-on-ranked matchup in the Igini Sports Forum. DU will take on North Central College at 7:00 p.m.

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