The Dominican University men's volleyball team picked up their first win over a AVCA top-five opponent in program history, topping the fourth-ranked UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs in straight sets on Friday evening in the Igini Sports Forum, 25-20, 25-22, 25-19.  The Stars posted a .388 hitting percentage, their best since sweeping St. Xavier University to open the season, and carried a 9-4 advantage in blocks to sweep the Banana Slugs off the floor.
 
Trailing 13-10 in the first set, Dominican went on a 7-2 spurt that saw three kills from Jeremy Royko (Naperville, Ill.) to open a 17-15 lead.  While UC-Santa Cruz was able to rally back to 18-18, Dominican used a 4-0 run, taking advantage of three UCSC errors to pull back in front 22-18 and never trailed again.
 
Dominican hit .407 in the first set with Royko collecting five of his team-high 12 kills in the opening frame.  Defensively, the Stars posted six of their nine blocks in the first stanza to set the tone for the night.
 
The momentum carried in the second set as Dominican scored seven of the first ten points of the set and later led 10-6 before the Banana Slugs came storming back.  Santa Cruz scored six of the next seven points to take a 12-11 lead.  After the sides traded sideouts, Dominican rattled off three straight, pulling back in front 15-13 and never trailed again in the set.
 
Zach Sinn (Winfield, Ill.) carried the Stars in the second set, knocking down five of his nine kills in the frame.  Dominican again hit .407 in the set, committing just two errors on 27 total attacks.
 
In the third set, the sides traded points all the way up to 13-13 before a five-point swing for Dominican, sparked by a Luke Spicer (St. Charles, Ill.) kill staked Dominican to an 18-13 advantage.  The Stars then went 5-for-6 on sideouts the rest of the way, keeping the Banana Slugs at bay.
 
Alex Coyne (Naperville, Ill.) dished out 36 assists in the three sets while Sinn and Spicer knocked down nine and eight kills respectively and Mason Solbrig (Lindenhurst, Ill.) finished with five kills, three aces and five block assists for a total of 10.5 points.
 
In the Stars' back row, libero Brooks Nevrly (Downers Grove, Ill.) eclipsed the 500-career dig mark, collecting a match-high ten digs.  The junior is averaging better than 2.77 digs per set on the season and averages 2.56 digs per set for his career.
 
Dominican, now 4-2 on the season, returns to action on Saturday afternoon in the Igini Sports Forum, hosting the Loras College Duhawks for the 3:00 p.m. match in Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) action.