By Michael Del Genio
Sophomore Ty Geschke rides a confident high in his play as the men’s volleyball team sits fourth in the conference, already clinching a spot in the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC) tournament.
The 6’2 premier outside hitter leads the team in points and kills, 260 and 232, respectively. Geschke has seen a significant increase in sets played from his freshman campaign, bringing him to career highs in almost every stat.
Although Geschke has seen personal success on the court, the Stars are falling short of expectations due to injuries, with 2024 All-American Casey Goss going down early into conference play.
“This is not how we expected the season to go [because] we had to fight through a lot of adversity,” Geschke said. “Losing Casey shot at our confidence, [then] Nathaniel [Cossyleon] stepped in and got hurt. Setters were getting hurt or sick. We didn’t have one core group.”
The Dominican Stars are 12-10 overall with an 8-3 record in conference. The Stars have already clinched their spot in the NACC tournament as the fourth seed after preseason predictions had them at number one. As the rest of the seeds shake out, their slotted to host the first round to Concordia University Chicago.
“We weren’t as ready as we thought. [The] non-conference play we got humbled really quick,” he explained. “There was a lack of response when we lose and fail, and we don’t learn from it. We need to make a change, not physically, but mentally.”
As one of the captains for this season, Geschke has stepped up despite some team struggles.
“I try to lead by example,” he says, “That’s kind of what I’m like, but sometimes there’s part of me that’s encouraging in game with small talk. In timeouts, if I have something to say, I’m going to say it because something needs to be said, so it isn’t quiet.”
Tyler Vrska, teammate and fellow captain, praised Geschke’s leadership style.
“From a locked-in and focused perspective, he’s doing his job day in and day out,” Vrska said. “He’s very consistent.”
Off the court, Geschke, who is from Racine, Wisconsin, is an international business major and works as a resident assistant in Coughlin Hall. He takes pride in connecting with everyone he can on campus, especially his residents.
“Last year, I was in most of my residents’ footsteps and can connect to [the] struggles they’ve had,” he says, “My residents and co-workers is what I like the most about [my job]. [I also love] the events and seeing people show up, it’s a really good feeling.”
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