Carthage Takes Down Dominican In KP’S Division III Game Of The Week
Number 6th ranked Carthage cruised down to Chicago to take on 19th ranked Dominican University for a Saturday afternoon match. The two squads have created a friendly rivalry that dates to 2014. The Carthage Firebirds hold the upper going into the match with an 11-5 record over the Stars.
The two programs graciously accepted to be part of KP’S NCAA Division III Match Of The Week. A tradition I hope to continue for a long time. It is an opportunity to highlight NCAA Division III Volleyball and allow our followers to learn about some incredible colleges. Saturdays match did not disappoint with Carthage defeating Dominican in four sets (25-17, 25-20, 25-22, 25-13). “Carthage is always a competitive tough team to play. They did a nice job with their service pressure and also focused on a lot of swiping off the block, which we did not handle well enough,” said Dominican Head Coach Doug Burchett.
In set one the Firebirds jumped out to a 10-4 lead and Owen Otto picked up his 100th kill on the season. “Owen Otto is one of the best players I have ever been around. His ability to be a creative point scorer in difficult situations is elite. He makes our offense go and gives our setters a security blanket they can rely on. He is a complete player. I am lucky to coach to coach this team, but also incredibly lucky to mentor Owen Otto,” said Carthage Head Coach JW Kieckhefer. Carthage sided out for 70 percent and was successful from the service line getting Dominican out of system in set one. The tough serves lead to the stars committing seven attacking errors and hitting .000 for the set.
For set two Carthage continued to stay in full control for most of the set. The Stars made a late run to keep things interesting, but the Firebirds ultimately won the set 25-20. It was not the cleanest match for both teams with the Firebirds dipping their side out percentage to 47 percent and hitting only .219. The Starts still could not find an offensive rhythm hitting .135 for the set.
Set three was when the Dominican were at their best by increasing their side out percentage to 73 percent and applying good service pressure. Sophomore outside hitter Ty Geschke had four kills and two blocks in the set. “Ty has a great vertical and brings a lot of offense power to the court. He’s making strides in his all-around game and will get better as his volleyball IQ matures,” said Coach Burchett.
Carthage bounced back in set four and played very clean. They had 17 kills, zero errors, hit an impressive .459 and sided out at 85 percent. “I am really proud of this group. We struggled a bit in set three with errors, but we came back strong in set four. With a young group it is nice to see us respond to adversity with confidence and aggression. When we play our style we are really tough to beat,” said Coach Kieckhefer.
Coach Burchett discussed the positives the Stars took after this match, “I thought we had fight in us, but just didn’t execute at a high level consistently. When we passed well in the third set we were able to execute our offense well and put the pressure on them.”
Carthage was led by Owen Otto with 18 kills and hitting .400 on the match. Setter Ryan Morey ran an efficient offense that totaled a .331 hitting percentage and had 43 assists. Owen Hendricks added 13 kills and Ryan Cholewinski contributed 10.
For Dominican Ty Geschke had 12 kills and Casey Goss got to double figures with 10. The side out percentage under 50 percent in the sets the Stars lost, 21 attacking errors and a .142 hitting percentage for the match ended up being a difference maker.
Over the week I was able to learn a lot about both programs. The SID’S at both colleges were outstanding in providing me with a wealth of information. NCAA Division III men’s volleyball is on the rise. Inspiring college men’s volleyball players should give Division III an honest look with many more states starting high school boys’ volleyball programs.
Dominican University:
Volleyball history: The Men’s Volleyball program at Dominican University and formerly Rosary College has seen many different forms, originally starting as a Club sport and then moving into NAIA back into Club and then finally starting up as a Division III program with an inaugural season in 2014. Currently in the 12th season as a Division III program.
AVCA Team Academic 8-Time Winner
24 First Team All-Conference Players
8 All-Americans
5 Conference Player of the Year
3 Time NACC coaching staff of the year
4 NACC Conference Championship 2018/2021/2022/2024
MVCL Conference Championship (Past Conference)
Final 4 Finishes 2018/2021
Elite 8 Finishes 2017/2022
Sweet 16 Finish 2024
203-82 overall record
Past coaches: Dan Ames (Head MVB Coach at Aurora University), Dan Pawlikowski (Women’s Assistant Coach at Depaul University), Cameron Andrew (Women’s Head Coach Elmhurst University), and Will Craft (Assistant MVB Coach at Pepperdine University).
Notable Alumni: Luke Spicer (Opposite, ’18), Jack McGuire (Setter, ’22), Ethan Klosak (Outside, ’20) Alex Coyne (Setter, ’17), George Kougan (Opposite, ’22)
Community service fall 2024: The Stars teamed up with the River Forest Community for the annual September 11th LemonAid Fundraiser. The event the men’s volleyball team helped out with handing out food/drinks, kid’s games, crosswalk donation collection and takedown of the event. Coach Doug Burchett and his squad volunteered with Feed My Starving Children. The team spent a couple of hours creating and packaging food that is distributed all around the world for starving children.
Academic Information
#1 Best Value in Midwest U.S News & World Report
#1 in Undergrad Teaching in Illinois
#1 for Social Mobility in Illinois
#3 Regional University in the Midwest
16 Average Class Size
25+ Graduate Degree Programs
20 Study Abroad Programs
35+ Student Clubs and Organizations
3.28 Average GPA for Student Athletes
3,300 Students including Undergrad and Graduate Students
Carthage:
Volleyball history: Carthage Firebirds won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2021 and 2022. The 2021 title it was the first NCAA team championship in school history. For years Carthage has dominated the CCIW conference, they have been to eight final fours from 2005 to 2022.
Former Firebirds coaching at the college level: LJ Marx who started as the coach of our men’s program is now at Marquette, Matt Ulmer just got hired at Kansas, Curtis Madson men’s Concordia Wisconsin, Ryan Thompson men’s Missouri S&T, Connor Wexter formerly men’s Loyola Chicago is now with James Madison, Justin Girodat TCU, Keegan Brumitt North Dakota St and Kyle Cohan Western Kentucky.
100 Win Club: Recently, Coach JW Kieckhefer surpassed 100 career wins. JW is the second coach in Carthage volleyball history to reach the milestone. Both LJ Marx and JW both collected 100 wins in their first six years.
Academic Information:
Private college located in Kenosha, WI next to Lake Michigan
Approximately 2,500 undergraduate students
Business and Nursing are some of the top majors
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