MILWAUKEE, Wis. (naccsports.org) --- Top-seeded Milwaukee School of Engineering and second-seeded Dominican University advanced to the championship final of the 2026 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Men's Volleyball Tournament with hard-fought victories in Saturday's semifinal round at MSOE's Hotchkin Arena.

The Raiders (21-6) outlasted fourth-seeded Benedictine University in five sets in the opener, while the Stars (21-5) were able to get past third-seeded Aurora University in four sets.

MSOE and Dominican will meet for the tournament title at 3 p.m. Sunday inside Hotchkin Arena, with the winner also securing the NACC's automatic berth in the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship. The Raiders will be looking for their second crown overall and first since 2018, while Dominican is in search of its fifth NACC Tournament title in seven opportunities (champion: 2018, 2021, 2022, 2024; runner-up: 2019, 2023).

No. 1 MSOE def. No. 4 Benedictine, 3-2 (37-35, 20-25, 16-25, 25-14, 15-12)
A tense opening set set the tone for entire match between the Raiders and Eagles. MSOE appeared to have grabbed an advantage late in the frame, using a 6-2 run to take a 22-18 lead after being tied 16-16. Benedictine responded with five of the next six points to tie the set at 23 apiece. From there, the Eagles fought off eight set points and had one of their own erased before a service error and a Jaron Lindsay kill gave Benedictine a 34-33 lead. MSOE regained the serve thanks to a BenU service error and took a 35-34 lead on a Callan Harris service ace. The teams traded points once again courtesy of another kill by Lindsay, followed up by a Lindsay service error. Gregory Kubon sent the ensuing serve down the line to give MSOE a 37-35 victory. The set was the longest, in terms of points, in NACC Tournament history.

The momentum MSOE gained in the first set faded quickly as Benedictine rebounded to take sets two (25-20) and three (25-16), hitting over .250 in each frame.

Facing elimination, the Raiders dominated the fourth set, hitting .519 with 15 kills and just one attack error en route to a 25-14 win to force a fifth-and-deciding set.

Both teams were solid offensively in the final set, trading the first 10 points. Benedictine led 8-7 at the side change and held an 11-10 lead before the hosts were able gain an advantage. The Raiders won back the serve with a kill by Seth Thomas. Hunter Carroll and Harris each tacked on a kill and combined on a block to give MSOE match point with a 14-11 lead. Benedictine erased one match point with a kill from Tucker Lambert, but the Raiders closed out the match on the next serve courtesy of a bad set on the part of the Eagles. MSOE hit a blistering .733 (11 kills, 0 errors, 15 attacks), while Benedictine posted a .429 hitting percentage (7 kills, 1 error, 14 attacks).

Overall, MSOE finished the match with a .353 hitting percentage and had 11 blocks to Benedictine's one, while the Eagles hit .270.

Harris, the NACC Player of the Year, led four Raiders with double-digit figures in kills with a team-high 17. He also had seven digs and four block assists. Thomas added 16 kills and nine digs, while Kubon had 11 kills, six digs, and four service aces, and Matthew Schultz had 10 kills.

Parker Rings dished out 52 asssts and had nine digs and five block assists, while Carroll finished with nine kills and seven blocks (one solo).

Lambert posted a match 24 kills with 14 digs and three service aces to pace Benedictine (16-11). Lindsay added 14 kills and Chris Radomski added 10, while Spencer VanEngen had 48 assists and NACC Defensive Player of the Year Jordan Cardenas had a match-high 15 digs.

No. 2 Dominican def. No. 3 Aurora, 3-1 (27-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-23)
After an early period of back-and-forth play to start the match, Aurora made the initial breakthrough, using an 8-2 run to build a 20-13 lead in the opening set. Dominican responded with seven straight points, capitalizing on four Aurora errors to tie the set at 20-20.

The squads traded the next six points to push the score to 23-23 before Kendall Esparza served up an ace to give Dominican the first set point. Aurora responded with two straight points to sit with set point on their serve, but the Stars were able to get out of the jam with kills by Thomas Hirsch and Ty Geschke before a block from Landon Diaz and Landon Kassulke ended the set with a 27-25 victory.

Dominican grabbed an early lead in the second set, building a 15-9 lead before Aurora was able to gain some traction. The Spartans scored six of the next eight points to kick off an 11-5 run. The rally was capped by a Josh McLellan service ace to tie the set at 20-20. The Stars were able to stem the tide, scoring five of the final six points of the set - including two straight kills from Geschke - to win the second set, 25-21, and take a 2-0 lead overall.

The Spartans jumped out to a 13-8 lead in the third set, only to see it incrementally erased by the Stars. Dominican outscored Aurora, 10-4, to grab an 18-17 advantage. The Spartans countered with a 5-0 run of their own with a pair of McLellan kills sandwiched around three Dominican attack errors. Leading 22-18, Aurora was able to hold off the Stars and pick up the final three points to win the set, 25-22, and extend the match.

The teams traded runs to start the fourth set. Tied at 17, Dominican grabbed the lead with a 4-1 run. Aurora responded with four straight points aided by three Stars errors to grab a 22-21 lead. Casey Goss gave Dominican back the lead with a kill and a service ace before an Aurora block leveled the set at 23 apiece. An Esparza kill and a Spartan attack error followed, closing out the set and match in favor of the Stars.

Both teams hit .259 for the match with Dominican posting 57 kills to Aurora's 53. The Stars also held an 8-5 edge in service aces, while the Spartans totaled eight blocks to Dominican's four.

McLellan led Aurora (20-7) with a match-high 24 kills. SJ Nelson added 10 kills, 13 digs, three block assists, and two service aces, while Logan Brouwer had 31 assists.

Geschke (19 kills, 11 digs), Esparza (15 kills, 13 digs), and Goss (13 kills, 10 digs) all posted double-doubles to lead the Stars, while Landon Kassulke had 48 assists and six digs. Esparza also had a match-high four service aces.