The Dominican University women's volleyball team opened Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) action on Wednesday, falling in four sets (25-12, 20-25, 25-15, 25-23) to the Aurora University Spartans at the Igini Sports Forum.  The loss drops the Stars to 2-6 on the season with a non-conference trip to Augustana College on Friday night before Dominican returns to the Igini Sports Forum on Saturday to host Lake Forest College.
 
The Stars could not slow the Spartans' offense, allowing Aurora to hit at a .312 clip paced by Katie Vondra's match-high 18 kills.  The only set Dominican managed to outhit the Spartans was the second with the Stars hitting .229 and knocking down 13 kills while holding Aurora to a .152 attack percentage in the set.
 
Dominican refused to go quietly despite trailing 22-17 in the clinching fourth set.  The Stars battled to within 24-23 before freshman Gillian Jones' attack for the back corner sailed just long for match-point for Aurora.
 
The Stars were paced by sophomore Amanda Ricca who knocked down a career-high 12 kills in the losing effort.  Ricca hit .186 for the match on 43 swings.  Classmate Stephanie Cole managed to hit .400 for the match, collecting seven kills on 15 attempts while committing just one error.
 
Defensively, libero Megan Parker tallied 20 digs in the loss.