The Dominican University men's volleyball team had their five-match winning snapped on Sunday afternoon, as the seventh-ranked UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs topped the Stars in four sets (20-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-12) in the Igini Sports Forum.
 
Dominican carried the momentum from its win over the #13 Mount St. Joseph Lions on Saturday into the first set on Sunday, stunning the Banana Slugs with a .318 attack percentage in the opening set with 11 kills to four errors on 22 attacks.  Freshman Luke Spicer (St. Charles, Ill.) impressed in the opening set, terminating six rallies as he hit .400 to start the match.  Spicer tallied two kills and a block as part of a 5-1 run for Dominican that opened a 23-18 lead for the Stars.  Zachery Sinn (Winfield, Ill.) later finished off the set with his second kill of the set.
 
In the second set, Dominican and the Banana Slugs went toe-to-toe with the Stars, with the second set featuring 16 ties and seven lead changes.  However, it was Santa Cruz that grabbed the final lead after the Stars led 22-20.  The Banana Slugs scored five of the sets final six points to even the match at one set apiece.
 
UC Santa Cruz then showed why they carry the #7 ranking from the AVCA in the third in fourth sets, running away from the youthful Stars, hitting better than .400 over the final two sets.
 
Spicer finished with a team-high 13 kills for the Stars while Sinn added six kills in the losing effort.  Jeremy Royko (Naperville, Ill.), Mason Solbrig (Lindenhurst, Ill.) and Nick Timreck (Downers Grove, Ill.) collected five kills apiece while Alex Coyne (Naperville, Ill.) dished out 38 assists.  As a team, Dominican hit .214 with 40 kills to 20 errors on 93 attacks.
 
Defensively, the Stars held the Slugs to .240 attack percentage over the first two sets, but Santa Cruz rallied to post a .326 attack percentage for the match, led by Jake Howard who collected 14 kills.
 
Dominican, now 5-4 on the season, returns to the court on Wednesday, traveling to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to take on the Carthage College Red Men in a battle of Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) unbeaten.  The match is slated for a 7:00 p.m. first serve.