Box Score The Dominican University women’s volleyball season came to a close on Friday afternoon, as the Stars fell in three sets to the 22^nd ranked College of St. Benedict Blazers (25-15, 25-23, 25-18) in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Regional hosted by the University of St. Thomas.
 
Senior Jacy Lawrence (St. Louis, Mo.) went out with a bang, posting 17 kills on 43 swings while committing just three errors in the final match of her career for the Stars.  Earlier in the day, Lawrence was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Central Region First Team, the first player to garner the honor for the Stars since joining the NCAA Division III ranks in 2000.
 
“Jacy did an excellent job this year leading this team by example,” said Ryan Baumgartner, the Stars’ second-year head coach.  “Every match she did an excellent job helping the team to compete at a very high level!”
 
After falling behind early in the first set 10-2, the Stars narrowed the gap to 15-9 on a kill by Julie Schulenburg (Springfield, Ill.), but the Stars could not get any closer.
 
Dominican raced out to a 7-3 lead in set two, punctuated by a kill by Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) Freshman of the Year, Caitlen Foote (Dexter, Mich.).  However, the Blazers knocked down four straight points to even the score.  The teams traded points all the way to the Blazers rattled off three straight points to open a 19-16 lead they would not relinquish.
 
In set three, with the score even at 4-4 after back-to-back kills by Foote, the Blazers quickly tacked four points on the board to open an 8-4 lead.  Dominican narrowed the gap to 12-10 on a kill by Lawrence before the College of St. Benedict scored seven of the next nine points to open a 19-12 lead that the Stars couldn’t escape.
 
Freshman setter Christina Wilson (Homer Glen, Ill.) finished the match with 29 assists while Foote posted eight kills and had a team-high ten digs.

Dominican closes the 2012 campaign with a 24-9 overall record, earning just their second trip to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.  The Stars were rewarded with one of the 20 Pool C bids to the tournament after going 3-4 against the AVCA Top 25 during the regular season.
 
“I am extremely proud of everything this team did this year,” said Baumgartner.  “Each and every one of them accepted their roll and worked every day to make the team better!”