The Dominican University men's volleyball team won their fourth straight match, topping the Benedictine University Eagles in three sets (25-21, 25-19, 25-13) in the Stars' 2017 Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) season opener.
 
"This was by far our most disciplined match," Dan Ames, the Stars' fourth-year head coach, said following the victory. "We've focused on trying to find a level and consistently play at that level and not let our emotions take over. The team did an amazing job with that tonight. When you play with discipline, things fall into place and this was one of those matches for us."
 
With the first set tied 10-10, Dominican's Luke Spicer knocked down a kill for a sideout before Mason Solbrig stepped back to serve three straight points for a four-point Dominican run that was capped by a Solbrig ace.  Benedictine worked back to within a point on a couple of occasions but a 61-percent sideout percentage helped the Stars to take the opening set.  Spicer knocked down four kills in the set while senior Michal Kawa terminated three rallies.
 
The second set is when the Stars' offense really started to click, hitting a blistering .531 while committing just two errors to 19 kills on 32 swings.  The Stars' efficient attack allowed Benedictine to string together just one three-point run together in the set as Dominican posted an 85-percent sideout percentage.  Spicer and freshman Ethan Klosak tallied five kills apiece in the frame while Kawa remained hot with four kills.
 
A pair of large runs put the match away for Dominican in the third set.  Adam Eboli capped an early 4-0 run by Dominican with a kill to give the Stars a 6-2 advantage.  Later in the set, Kawa sparked a five-point Dominican swing with a kill before stepping back to serve the next four points for Dominican including a pair of aces as the Stars opened an 18-11 lead and never looked back.
 
In total, the Stars attack posted a .398 hitting percentage paced by Spicer's 13 kills on 23 swings.  The junior hit .522 for the match and added four block assists for 15.0 point effort.  Kawa added 13 kills, four aces and three block assists while Klosak reached double-figures in kills for the fourth consecutive match with 11 kills on the night.  Senior Alex Coyne used his full arsenal of weapons, dishing out 37 kills in the three-set effort with seven different attackers picking up a kill for the Stars.
 
Defensively, Dominican posted ten blocks while also collecting 26 digs to force the Eagles into an .089 attack percentage.  Libero Brooks Nevrly led the backrow effort with nine digs while Nick Timreck and Spicer led the block party with four total blocks apiece.
 
The Stars, now 4-1 on the season, will hit the road next weekend, traveling to Greenville College on Friday to meet the Panthers in MCVL play before continuing on to St. Louis, Missouri, to meet the Fontbonne University Griffins on Saturday.
 
"Now our challenge is to see us continue to play at this level and keep our emotions in check next weekend in St. Louis," remarked Ames.