The Dominican University men's volleyball team opened the 2017 season on Friday evening, falling in three sets (25-17, 25-17, 25-21) to the #14 NYU Violets at the Igini Sports Forum.  The Stars, ranked 13^th in the AVCA Division III Men's Preseason Poll, struggled to hit their stride, posting just a .111 attack percentage while NYU managed to hit at a .386 clip with 41 kills to the Stars' 24.
 
After the Violets pulled out to a 2-0 lead in the match, Dominican refused to go quietly, leading the third set 19-17 before NYU scored four straight to take a 21-19 lead.  After a Stars' sideout, the Violets scored three-straight points before putting Dominican away on the eighth kill of the evening from Adam Lee.
 
Luke Spicer led the Stars with five kills on 22 swings while freshman Ethan Klosak came off the bench to spark Dominican with four kills on nine attempts to hit .333 in his first collegiate action.
 
For the Violets, Nick Benson led all attackers with 11 kills, hitting .368 in the winning effort.  Setter Derek Chiu dished out 30 assists and collected six kills on seven attacks.
 
Dominican starts the year 0-1 for the third time in the program's four-year history.  The Stars will look to bounce back on Tuesday, traveling to St. Xavier University to take on the Cougars at 7:00 p.m.