Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Dominican University men's volleyball team opened the 2014 season, the Stars' first as an NCAA Division III program, on Saturday, dropping the bookend matches of a tri-match featuring the Stars, the McKendree University Bearcats and College of Mount St. Joseph Lions.

The Stars took to the court for the the first match against the Division II Bearcats, falling in four sets, 25-20, 14-25, 25-23, 25-21. Charlie Spry (Barrington, Ill.) and Zachery Sinn (Winfield, Ill.) led the Stars' offense with 12 and 11 kills respectively while Alex Coyne (Naperville, Ill.) dished out 36 assists.

Defensively, Brooks Nevrly (Downers Grove, Ill.) collected a team-high ten digs while Nicholas Costa was in on four total blocks (1 BS, 3 BA).

As a team, Dominican hit .122 in their first match of the season, while the Bearcats hits .185 with 46 kills on 108 swings.

In the nightcap, the Stars fell to the Division III MSJ Lions who improved to 3-3 on the year with a three-set win over Dominican, 25-20, 25-22, 25-20.

Sinn carried the heavy hand for the Stars, knocking down 14 kills in the losing effort.

Dominican improved its hitting percentage to .206 (41-21-97) in the loss to the Lions but managed just 19 digs and three total blocks as the Lions, paced by Alex Vohland's 20 kills, posted a .395 attack percentage with 41 kills on 76 swings while committing just 11 errors.

The Stars can't dwell on the back-to-back losses long, returning to the court tomorrow to square off against the McKendree Bearcats and MSOE Raiders in Milwaukee. The Stars and Bearcats rematch will take place at 2:00 p.m. followed by the Stars and Raiders at 4:00 p.m.