Kenosha, Wis. – No. 15 Dominican University Men's Volleyball opened the NCAA DIII Men's Volleyball Championships in the Play-In Round against Thiel at Carthage College on Thursday night.
 
Results:
No. 15 Dominican: 3
Thiel: 0

How it Happened:
-The Stars showed their nerve early and fell behind 6-3 to the Tomcats.
-Freshman Eli Rodda came off the bench to serve for DU and sparked a 5-0 run, which included kills by Graduate Student Casey Goss, Junior Thomas Hirsch, and Sophomore Kendall Esparza.
-Dominican and Thiel would then proceed to trade side-outs, with the Stars eventually falling behind, 18-16.
-Goss helped DU get back into the set and ultimately take the first set by a score of 26-23. The Frankfort, Illinois native, totaled 4 kills and an ace in the opening frame of the tournament.
-With Dominican settled into the match, they used the momentum from Set 1 to take a 12-7 lead in the second set.
-After the Tomcats evened up the set at 14-14, a kill by Goss and a huge solo block by Sophomore Landon Diaz helped put the Stars back in front at 19-15.
-Thiel rattled off three of the next four points, bringing the score to 19-17.
-A solo block by Hirsch propelled DU to a second set victory by a score of 25-18. Esparza notched 3 kills and an ace in the middle stanza.
-Both squads traded points to begin the third, with back-to-back kills by Diaz and Sophomore Landon Kassulke giving Dominican a 9-7 advantage.
-The Stars looked to separate themselves from the Tomcats, as kills by Goss and Esparza built up a 14-11 lead and forced Thiel to take a timeout.
-Back-to-back aces by Hirsch gave the Stars some breathing room in the third, who were now leading 19-13.
-Dominican kept taking advantage of Thiel's hitting errors, and were just three points away from victory, up 22-16.
-A bounce kill by Hirsch put the exclamation mark on the match for DU, who took the third set and the match by a score of 25-17.

Shining Stars:
-Sophomore Kendall Esparza led the Stars' attack with 11 kills on .455 hitting, along with an ace and 4 digs.
-Graduate Student Casey Goss totaled 10 kills on .438 hitting, an ace, and 4 digs.
-Junior Thomas Hirsch registered 7 kills on .778 hitting, 2 aces, and 3 blocks.
-Junior Ty Geschke notched 4 kills, a solo block, and 3 digs.
-Sophomore Landon Kassulke collected 23 assists, 2 blocks, 3 kills, and 3 digs in the win.
-Junior Grant Henderson led DU with 11 digs.

  Leading the Way:
  Kills: Esparza (11)
  Aces: Hirsch (2)
  Blocks: Hirsch (3)
  Assists: Kassulke (23)
  Digs: Henderson (11)

What's Next:
No. 15 Dominican University Men's Volleyball improved to 23-5 (10-2 NACC) on the 2026 season. The Stars earned their first NCAA Tournament victory since 4/15/2024, when DU took down North Central in five sets. Dominican will take on No. 3 Carthage in the First Round tomorrow, April 17^th, at 4:00 p.m.

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