RIVER FOREST, Ill. — The last time Illinois Tech men's volleyball played at Dominican on March 12th, the Scarlet Hawks came away with their first match victory against the Stars in a 3-1 upset during the NACC regular season. The Scarlet Hawks were looking to duplicate that performance in their NACC Men's Volleyball Quarterfinals opener in River Forest Tuesday night. Unfortunately for the Hawks, they faced a tough match against Dominican, falling in straight sets, 3-0, at the Igini Sports Forum. It was a challenging night for the Scarlet Hawks, who struggled offensively with a hitting percentage of -.036, while Dominican capitalized with a .284 hitting percentage.

Illinois Tech closes out their 2026 season with 7-18 record overall after qualifying for the conference postseason tournament for the third consecutive year.

How It Happened

The opening set was a tightly contested battle, with both teams exchanging points early on. Illinois Tech took advantage of some service errors by Dominican to gain a slight edge, with Maximo Dowling making key kills off assists from Samuel Goh. However, Dominican's Ty Geschke and Casey Goss answered back with crucial kills, keeping the pressure on. The set remained neck-and-neck until Dominican pulled ahead late, with Goss sealing the set 25-22 on a kill from Landon Kassulke.

Riding the momentum, Dominican jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second set with impactful plays from Kendall Esparza and Thomas Hirsch. Illinois Tech responded with contributions from Goh and Tyson Haufschild, closing the gap to 5-4. Yet, attack errors hindered their progress, allowing Dominican to stretch the lead to 16-9. Despite a late push from Paul Henderson, who delivered key kills, Illinois Tech couldn't close the gap, dropping the set 25-19.

In the third set, Illinois Tech struggled to find their rhythm as Dominican began with a 3-0 run featuring a kill by Hirsch. Dowling scored the first point for the Scarlet Hawks, but service errors continued to plague their efforts. Dominican capitalized on these mistakes, extending their lead to 17-8, with Kassulke providing key assists. Though Dowling's kill and service ace sparked a brief comeback, Dominican maintained control, ending the set 25-13 with a block by Geschke that led to an attack error by Henderson.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

Maximo Dowling  
- 8 kills  
- 1 ace  
- 7 digs  
- 9 points total  

Samuel Goh  
- 16 assists  
- 1 ace  
- 4 digs  

Sebastian Dominguez
- 2 kills with a .500 hitting percentage  
- 1 solo block  
- 3 points total  

Paul Henderson 
- 1 ace  
- 5 digs  

Raul Matos
- 4 digs  

Dominican Top Performers

Ty Geschke
- 11 kills  
- 0.28 attack percentage  
- 7 digs  
- 3 total blocks  

Landon Kassulke
- 31 assists  
- 0.333 attack percentage  
- 2 total blocks  
- 1 service ace  

Kendall Esparza  
- 8 kills  
- 0.467 attack percentage  
- 7 digs  
- 1 service ace  

Game Notes:
- Illinois Tech is now 1-9 lifetime against Dominican.