ORANGEBURG, N.Y. — The Long Island University men's volleyball team (1-1, 0-0 NEC) earned its first win of the 2026 season on Thursday night, defeating Dominican University 3-1 on the road. 

"Always good when you can get a win on the road," LIU head coach Justin Beaumont said.

With both teams tied at 15 through the first 30 points of the opening frame, LIU took the lead on a kill by freshman Ike Vernon before extending its lead to 17-15 off of two Charger errors. LIU then scored four consecutive points and staved off a late Dominican comeback bid to take the first set 25-20. 

LIU led by five midway through the second set of Thursday's match, but a 10-5 Charger scoring run put Dominican up 22-21 late in the second set, as the Chargers later won the frame 25-23. 

Despite dropping the second set, LIU continued to battle in the third set; with both teams tied at 20, three late kills by redshirt sophomore Heston Cabinian, senior Isaac Benka, and senior Kale Spencer pushed the Sharks to a 25-22 win to take a 2-1 lead in the match. 

Dominican led 23-21 late in the fourth set on Thursday, but back-to-back kills by Vernon tied the set at 23. Another kill by Cabinian put LIU ahead by one before the Sharks earned a 25-23 win in the final set off a Charger attack error. 

Vernon led LIU with 18 kills, followed closely by Spencer with 17. Spencer paced the Sharks with five service aces, while junior Roei Horovitz recorded 44 assists and senior Drew McNellis had six total blocks. Senior Slater Fuhrman finished the match with a team-high 10 digs. 

Up next for the Sharks is a road trip to California, as LIU will face CSU Northridge on Wednesday, Jan. 21, Master's University on Friday, Jan. 23, and Long Beach State University on Saturday, Jan. 24.