The Dominican University men's volleyball team improved to 8-1 on the season and 5-0 in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) with a sweep of the Loras College Duhawks on the road in Dubuque, Iowa, on Friday night, 25-16, 29-27, 25-11. Jeremy Royko knocked down a season-high 12 kills, hitting .310 on 29 swings, to pace the Stars in the winning effort.
 
"The team took care of business tonight," said Dan Ames, the Stars' fourth-year head coach. "In the first and third sets we played at a level that we have been looking for this season. The second set was a bit bumpy but we found a way to win. We will take this win and move forward to our next conference match on Wednesday."
 
Trading points all the way to 11-11 in the first set, the Stars scored four of the next five, including a pair of kills by Royko, to open a 15-12 advantage.  After a Duhawks' sideout, Dominican went on another 3-0 run to open an 18-13 lead and force a Duhawks timeout.
 
After again trading sideouts, Dominican scored six of the final seven points of the set to put Loras away.  Royko and Michal Kawa tallied three kills apiece in the first set as the Stars hit .550 with just one hitting error to open the night.
 
In the second set, the Stars rallied early to open a 9-4 lead but Loras scratched and clawed to get back into the set.  It was a late four-point run late in the second set that gave the Duhawks a 19-17 advantage.  The sides traded points the rest of the way with Dominican staving off set point twice before scoring the final three points of the set, including an Alex Coyne ace, to open a 2-0 in the match for Dominican. 
 
In the third set, it was time for Dominican's block to take over.  The Stars posted 4.5 total blocks in the set with Coyne, Kawa and Mason Solbrig collecting two blocks apiece.  The Stars forced 14 hitting errors for the Duhawks who hit -.409 in the deciding set.
 
Coyne doled out 23 assists for Dominican as the Stars' attack posted a .289 hitting percentage.  Kawa balanced Royko, knocking down eight kills on just 16 swings.
 
Defensively, Brooks Nevrly and Coyne collected nine and seven digs respectively while Luke Spicer, Adam Eboli and Kawa posted three total blocks apiece.
 
After winning eight straight on the road, Dominican finally returns to the Igini Sports Forum on Wednesday, hosting the Benedictine University Eagles in an MCVL Eastern Division matchup at 7:00 p.m.