River Forest, Ill. – RV Dominican University Men's Volleyball welcomes Benedictine to the Igini Sports Forum for a Blue Out on Wednesday.

Series History vs. Benedictine:
All-Time Record / Streak: 14-6 / W1
-Dominican and Benedictine first played on 2/12/2015 in Lisle, Ill. (W, 3-2).
-DU's longest win streak over the Eagles spanned three matches from 3/18/2023 – 3/12/2024.
-The Stars are 8-1 at home against BenU.
- Last season, Dominican swept Benedictine on the road on 3/15/2025 (25-21, 25-23, 25-20).
 
DU in Review:
-DU is 17-5 (8-2 NACC) (11-2 Home) (6-3 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 five with a sweep at Marian on Saturday (25-12, 25-19, 25-20).
-Junior Thomas Hirsch notched a team-high 13 kills on .684 hitting and added an ace and two blocks.
-Graduate Student Casey Goss totaled 8 kills, 7 digs, and 3 blocks.
-Sophomore Kendall Esparza collected 8 kills and an ace.
-Sophomore Landon Kassulke dished 29 assists in the sweep.


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 263  kills for 3.25 kills per set. Geschke has added 127 digs and 22 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 231, which averages to 2.85 kills per set. The sophomore leads the Stars and the NACC in aces with 41.
-Junior Thomas Hirsch has been lights out through the middle for the Stars, tallying 207 kills and a conference-leading 85.0 blocks. Hirsch also leads the NACC in hitting percentage at .447.
-Sophomore Landon Kassulke is the leading playmaker for Dominican, notching 824 assists for 10.05 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 168 kills in 22 matches played.
-Junior Grant Henderson has held down the back row for DU, totaling a team-high 202 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:
-Benedictine is 14-9 (7-2 NACC) on the 2026 season.
-The Eagles are amid a season-high six match win streak, dating back to March 14^th.
-BenU registers 11.9 kills per set and hits at a .255 rate, while also having 11.7 digs per set and 2.0 blocks per set.