River Forest, Ill. – RV Dominican University Men's Volleyball will close out its nonconference slate on Friday against No. 11 California, Santa Cruz.

Series History vs. California, Santa Cruz:
All-Time Record / Streak: 4-5 / L2
-Dominican and UCSC first played on 2/22/2015 in River Forest, Ill (L, 3-1).
-DU's last victory over the Banana Slugs was on 4/2/2023 at home (3-2).
-The Stars are 3-3 at home against UC Santa Cruz.
- Last season, Dominican fell to UCSC in its first match of the season on the road on 1/16/2025 (3-0).
 
DU in Review:
-DU is 15-5 (7-2 NACC) (10-2 Home) (5-3 Road) on the 2026 season.
-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.
 
Last Time Out:
 -The Stars extended their win-streak to three with a sweep at Concordia Wisconsin on Tuesday (25-12, 25-16, 25-15).
-Junior Ty Geschke led the way for DU in attacking, notching 13 kills on .455 hitting along with 7 digs.
-Junior Thomas Hirsch totaled 11 kills on .667 hitting alongside a team-high 4 aces.
-Graduate Student Casey Goss powered 9 kills on .563 hitting and added a team-leading 3 blocks.
-Sophomore Kendall Esparza tallied 8 kills and 2 aces.


NACC Tournament Picture:
 -Dominican has cliched a berth to the NACC tournament for the eighth straight season (2020 season canceled due to COVID-19).
-Seeding has not yet been determined, as the Stars are 2.0 matches back of conference-leaders MSOE.
-The NACC has adopted a new host system for the NACC Tournament. Quarterfinals will remain unchaged, hosted by the highest seed in the match, while the Semifinals and Final will be hosted by the highest seed remaining in the tournament, creating a "final four" atmosphere at a neutral site.

Shining Stars:
-Junior Ty Geschke has led the attack for the Stars, totaling 243  kills for 3.28 kills per set. Geschke has added 115 digs and 21 blocks during the 2026 season. The junior is 4^th in the conference in kills.
-Sophomore Kendall Esparza is 2^nd on Dominican in kills with 211, which averages to 2.85 kills per set. The sophomore leads the Stars and the NACC in aces with 39.
-Junior Thomas Hirsch has been lights out through the middle for the Stars, tallying 185 kills and a team-leading 80.0 blocks. Hirsch also leads the NACC in hitting percentage at .447 and is 2^nd in the conference in blocks.
-Sophomore Landon Kassulke is the leading playmaker for Dominican, notching 757 assists for 10.09 assists per set, which ranks as the highest mark in the NACC.
-Graduate Student Casey Goss rounds out the top four attackers for the Stars, posting 153 kills in 20 matches played.
-Junior Grant Henderson has held down the back row for DU, totaling a team-high 178 digs.
 
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 DS duo for the Stars. Henderson led DU with 126 digs last season, while Vrska finished fourth with 112.
 
Scouting Report:
-No 11 UC Santa Cruz is 14-4 on the 2026 season.
-The Banana Slugs are amid a two-match win streak, including a five-set thriller over Aurora on Wednesday.
-CUW registers 13.2 kills per set and hits at a .301 rate, while also having 10.72 digs per set and 1.56 blocks per set.