The Dominican University men's volleyball team extended their lead atop the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) Eastern Division, topping the Mount St. Joseph Lions in four sets (25-12, 25-21, 23-25, 25-23) for the Stars 12^th straight victory overall, eighth straight to open MCVL play.
 
"This was a great match," commented Dan Ames, the Stars' head coach, following the victory. "The guys came out ready to play and took it to MSJ. Our goal is to keep that level of play we had in the first set for the whole match. Unfortunately we had a small bump in the road but the team found a way to win and finish off a 3-0 weekend.  The coaching staff is proud of the entire team, from one through 24, at their ability to find a way to win."
 
The Stars came out hit a blistering .462 to overpower the host Lions in the first set.  Michal Kawa and Jeremy Royko combined for 12 kills in the first set on just 18 swings while committing just three errors.  Luke Spicer added three first-set kills on five swings while defensively, Dominican posted four total blocks in the first set, holding the Lions to just an .071 attack percentage.
 
In the second set, Dominican needed to overcome a 10-6 deficit, eventually evening the score at 12-12 on an Alex Vohland hitting error, one of ten attack errors for the Lions in the second stanza.  The sides then traded sideouts 19-19 before the Stars went on a 5-0 run to set up set point.  Royko had a pair of kills early in the run before a pair of Dominican blocks set up set point.  After the Lions staved off set point twice, a Lions' error gave Dominican the two-set lead.
 
The Dominican offense sputtered a bit in the third set, managing just seven kills on 29 attempts while committing six errors.  Conversely, the Lions hit .242 to take the third set, knocking down 14 kills.
 
Dominican overcame the third set with 15 kills in the fourth set, paced by Adam Eboli who knocked down five kills on nine swings.  Kawa and Royko added three kills apiece as the Stars hit .345 to seal the victory.
 
Kawa finished with a season-high 18 kills on 32 swings while Royko knocked down 12 kills on 23 attacks.  Eboli added nine kills and added eight total blocks for a total of 13.0 points in the winning effort.
 
Senior setter Alex Coyne dished out 36 assists as the Stars hit .292 for the match while senior libero Brooks Nevrly collected double-digit digs for the second consecutive match and fourth time this season with 11 digs.
 
The Stars, now 12-1 on the season and 8-0 in MCVL action, return to the Igini Sports Forum to host the Adrian College Bulldogs on Friday at 7:00 p.m.