The Dominican University men's volleyball team, ranked 12^th in this week's AVCA Men's Division III Top 15 poll released today, wrapped up its road trip to Boston with an impressive five-set win at #13 MIT, 25-18, 24-26, 21-25, 25-18, 25-9, in non-conference action.

Sophomore Jeremy Royko (Naperville, Ill.) powered the Stars, now 11-7 on the season, with 18 kills, hitting .471 for the match while adding 17 digs, three blocks and two aces. For the Engineers (13-7), sophomore Martin Krasuski amassed 19 kills, a .500 hitting effort, 16 kills and three blocks.
 
Dominican created a small cushion early in the opening set before mounting an 8-1 run, resulting in an 18-10 advantage. Freshman Brad McFarland (Tinley Park, Ill.) accounted for three kills while sophomore Trevor Slonek (West Chicago, Ill.) posted back-to-back aces for the visitors. MIT managed to come within six on two occasions, the last at 24-18 on a setting error, but another McFarland strike closed out the set.
 
In the second stanza, two Krasuski kills and a hitting error gave the Engineers a 7-4 edge. The hosts maintained the small cushion as blasts by Krasuski and senior Alex Klein later produced a 21-16 lead and a timeout by Dominican. Once action resumed, McFarland registered two kills but those were countered by three in a row from Krasuski to give MIT set point at 24-18. Miscues by the Engineers along with two more McFarland kills and a block by sophomore Mason Solbrig (Lindenhurst, Ill.) evened the frame at 24-24. The late rally came to end as back-to-back Klein kills secured the victory.
 
The early stages of the third set were closely played as it featured seven ties and two lead changes. A block by Krasuski and senior Andrew Busse sparked an 8-2 run that gave the Eingineers a 20-15 lead. Both sides traded points until kills from Solbrig and freshman Luke Spicer (St. Charles, Ill.) narrowed the gap to 23-21. The Stars would not get any closer as hits by Krasuski and Klein capped the set.
 
In the fourth set, Dominican jumped out to a 7-2 lead that eventually grew to 16-8 on a Royko ace. MIT chipped away at the deficit, coming within four, 18-14, on a Krasuski kill. A hitting error helped the Stars outscore the Engineers, 7-3, down the stretch to force a fifth set.
 
With the final frame knotted at three, an exchange of points ensued until a service error and a McFarland kill gave Dominican an 8-6 edge at the changeover. After switching sides, the Stars increased their margin courtesy of an attack error and a Solbrig ace. MIT countered with a kill from sophomore Sean Kropp, closing the gap to three, 10-7. The back-and-forth scoring resumed before Dominican registered four of the final five points, clinching the victory on a kill by Solbrig.
 
McFarland racked up 15 kills, followed by ten from Slonek, who also had three aces and three blocks. Solbrig recorded eight kills and five blocks while Spicer tallied nine digs, eight kills and two blocks. Sophomore Alex Coyne (Naperville, Ill.) doled out 51 assists, tallied 14 digs and three blocks while sophomore Robert Mead (Darien, Ill.) registered 11 digs.
 
For the Engineers, Klein finished with 13 kills and three blocks while Kropp posted 13 kills and 11 digs.
 
The Stars, now 4-5 against the AVCA Top 15, return to River Forest where they will entertain the fourth-ranked SUNY New Paltz Hawks for a 7:00 p.m. match on Monday, March 16^th.  The match is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start and is Dominican's ninth ranked opponent in 14 matches since February 14.