The Dominican University men's volleyball team pushed their winning streak to seven matches, sweeping the Lakeland College Muskies (25-21, 27-25, 25-18) in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon in the Igini Sports Forum.  Mason Solbrig (Lindenhurst, Ill.) paced the Stars with nine kills and three aces for a total of 12 points as Dominican improved to 10-2 on the season.

"I think tonight was a combination of a lot of positives and negatives," said Doug Burchett, a Dominican University assistant coach in his second season. "Obviously we were able to pull out a win in three sets, which is a good thing--but we didn't work efficiently enough to really take a giant stride towards our goals."
 
The Stars hit .189 in the first set while going 15-for-21 on sideouts.  Charlie Spry (Barrington, Ill.) knocked down four of his five kills for the match in the opening set.  Spry went 4-for-7 in the set with committing an attack error while Brooks Nevrly (Downers Grove, Ill.) collected five digs to pace the Stars defensive effort that held the Muskies to a .156 attack percentage.
 
In the second set, the Stars overcame an 18-13 deficit, using a 10-5 run that saw Robert Mead (Darien, Ill.) serve five points to even the set at 23-23.  After a kill by Lakeland's Matt Stolz, Dominican staved off set point with a kill by Jeremy Royko (Naperville, Ill.) before Joe Marchese (Orland Park, Ill.) served up an ace to setup set point for Dominican at 25-24.  After a Lakeland sideout, a kill by Adam Eboli (Melrose Park, Ill.) and a Lakeland attack error wrapped up the set for Dominican.
 
In the third set, Lakeland scored the first four points of the set before Dominican raced back to even the score at 5-5 on a kill by Royko.  The Stars then took a 7-6 lead on a Lakeland attack error and Dominican never trailed the remainder of the way.  Royko, Solbrig and Aidan Spangler (Western Springs, Ill.) collected four kills apiece in the third frame as the Stars hit .367 for the set.

"I think we finally got in a good rhythm in the third set—both offensively and defensively," said Burchett.  "Aidan Spangler had some nice stops at the net which really took Lakeland out of their groove." 
 
Alex Coyne (Naperville, Ill.) ran the Stars' offense to a .228 hitting percentage, collecting 30 assists.  Royko finished with eight kills while Luke Spicer, Mead and Spangler added five each.
 
For the Muskies, Stolz finished with a match-high 13 kills on 34 swings while committing seven errors.
 
Dominican returns to Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) play on Tuesday, hosting the 14^th-ranked MSOE Raiders for a 7:00 p.m. match before the third-ranked Carthage College Red Men visit the Igini Sports Forum on Thursday evening.

"Next week is obviously a very big week for us," commented Burchett, "so we need to play at a higher level on a more consistent basis to have success."