By Angel Dominguez
On Saturday, April 13, the Dominican men’s volleyball team closed the NACC tournament championship by defeating Aurora University 3-1.
The game took place at the Igini Sports Forum, where Dominican Stars, the #1 seed, hosted Aurora Spartans, the #2 seed, in the championship match.
After dropping the first game, the Stars rallied to level the series apiece. In the closing moments of the third set, the team faced a significant deficit against Aurora.
However, the Stars staged a remarkable comeback, securing the set and taking a 2-1 lead.
With one set remaining and the conference championship at stake, the Stars clinched victory, winning the game 3-1 and securing their spot in the NCAA tournament.
Head Coach Douglas Burchett praised his team’s efforts enroute to securing the conference championship.
“I’m extremely proud of winning both the regular season and tournament championship,” he said. “After losing in the championship match last season, we knew it was our expectation to get back to the final match. We also needed home court advantage, [which] meant winning the regular season [too].”
Dominican concluded their NACC season with an 11-1 conference record, with their only loss coming against Benedictine University in a closely contested match last month.
Since then, the Stars have embarked on a nine-game winning streak, concluding their conference season in exceptional form. This conference tournament victory has now been added to the team’s numerous accomplishments this season.
The Stars finished atop the regular-season standings, claimed the conference tournament title, and garnered accolades such as Coaching Staff of the Year and Conference Player of the Year honors for junior Casey Goss.
“Awards are the results of our team effort and [it wouldn’t have happened] without the team’s efforts,” said Burchett. “Casey did an amazing job this year representing his teammates and has done an incredible job of carrying the heavy weight of being our go-to scorer.”
Regarding the Coaching Staff honor, Burchett praised all the work put into the season.
“I’m very proud of all the hard work we have put in to help push this program back to a Conference title and NCAA tournament berth,” he said. “[There have been] so many behind-the-scenes hours that go into the on and off the court success. I cannot say enough things about my talented staff.”
The team now looks ahead to the NCAA tournament and looks to compete for a national title.
“We are going to try and ride this season out as long as possible,” Burchett said. “We simply treat each match like any other and focus on the match at hand.”
For more game updates, check out the Dominican athletics website.
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