River Forest, Ill. – Men's Volleyball continues to build its NACC resume, Baseball begins the 2026 season in Kentucky, Softball prepares for The Spring Games, and Track and Field wraps up the Indoor season at the NACC Championships.
Men's Volleyball remained at #18 in the AVCA Division III MVB poll and opened the week with a ranked-against-ranked match at #20 Milwaukee School of Engineering on Friday night. A back-and-forth affair between the Stars and Raiders had to be decided in a fifth set, where DU ultimately came up short, 17-15. Sophomore Kendall Esparza had a strong match for Dominican, totaling 18 kills on .400 hitting alongside 8 digs. Sophomore Landon Kassulke continued his lights-out run of matches, recording 48 digs and 12 blocks in the defeat. The Stars had to regroup quickly, as they were right back in action on Saturday afternoon at home against Edgewood on Alumni Day. DU earned a bounce-back victory in a sweep over the Eagles and held Edgewood to just 13 points in the second set. Esparza made it back-to-back matches leading Dominican in kills with 9, followed by Junior Thomas Hirsch 's mark of 8. DUMVB will get set for one match this week, as the Stars will face off against Concordia Chicago on Thursday for a River Forest showdown. The match between DU and CUC is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m.
Baseball traveled to Danville, Kentucky to kick off the 2026 season in the Centre College Invite. The Stars played 3 games over Saturday and Sunday and opened the year against Wheaton College. Offensive explosions in the first and eighth innings led DU past the Thunder by a final score of 9-7. Senior Matthew Earley posted 2-6 hitting, a three-run home run, and a double in the win. Sophomore Koufax Cranmer picked up the win, and Senior Jackson Tanko notched the save. Sunday started with Dominican taking on Brevard in the first game of the day, and DU's offense did not slow down. The Stars took down the Tornadoes by a final score of 14-4 after a four run seventh and a five run ninth. Senior Zach Helein had a great outing at the plate, going 3-6 with a three-RBI triple and a double. Graduate Student Matthew Hanafin recorded the victory and struck out four batters. To close the weekend, Dominican prepared for its toughest test against the hosts, #13 Centre. The Stars struck first in the top of the third, but three unanswered by the Colonels had DU in a 3-1 hole in the top of the ninth. Clutch hitting from Senior Ricky Powell and Earley completed the turnaround for Dominican, who now took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth. Freshman Austin Long was able to shut the door on Centre, and the Stars completed a perfect 3-0 weekend in the 4-3 upset victory over the Colonels. Helein completed the game with 3-5 hitting and 2 runs scored. Baseball will take the week to prepare for the RussMatt Invitational in Central Florida over Spring Break, where the Stars will play eight games in eight days.
Softball had the week to recover from the Bethany Lutheran Dome Tournament and will get set for The Spring Games in Central Florida over spring break, where Dominican will play ten games in the span of eight days.
Track and Field concluded the Indoor Season at the 2026 NACC Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday, February 27
th and Saturday, February 28
th. Freshman Samuel Malke posted DU's best finish of 10
th in the Men's 800-meter with a time of 2:01.92. Senior Emma Brosnihan took 16
th in the Women's 800-meter, recording a time of 2:45.62. The Stars will get set for the outdoor season, which begins on Friday, March 27
th, at the First Chance Invite.
Stars of the Week for the week of February 23rd to March 1st:
Senior Emma Brosnihan of Women's Track and Field took home Women's Star of the Week honors. Brosnihan had Dominican's best finish of 16
th at the NACC Indoor Championships in the Women's 800-meter, recording a time of 2:45.62.
Senior Zach Helein of Baseball was named Men's Star of the Week. Over the weekend, Helein went 8-15 from the plate and posted a double, a triple, and 3 RBIs in DU's 3-0 start to the season.
