The Dominican University women's volleyball team saw their 2018 season come to an end on Thursday night, falling to the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons in three sets (25-23, 25-18, 25-17) in the semifinal round of the 2018 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament. The Stars went 20-10 on the season, reaching the 20-win mark for the first time since 2015.
"It's always tough when your season comes to a close," commented Cameron Andrew, the Stars' head coach following the final match of his first season. "I'm so very proud of all we did this year. To have the first 20-win season since 2015 is truly something special."
Dominican struggled on offense, hitting just .038 for the night with 27 attack errors.
Gabija Sinickaite, named the league's
Freshman of the Year earlier on Thursday, led the Dominican attack with ten kills on 33 swings and posting a .182 attack percentage.
Elin Ream added ten kills of her own while
Gillian Jones managed nine in the losing effort.
"This one does sting," continued Andrew. "We know we are better than what we were tonight. We have shown that all year and to not have our best effort isn't an easy pill to swallow."
Defensively, the Stars managed to hold the Falcons to a .167 attack percentage, collecting 69 digs in the back row and posting five total blocks at the net.
Megan Parker, the NACC
Defensive Player of the Year, led the back row effort with a match-high 20 digs, while Sinickaite tallied four block assists at the net.
The Stars had gotten off to a fast start, using a 10-1 run in the first set to open a 12-6 lead. Concordia Wisconsin began to cut into the lead, eventually evening the set at 22-22 to force a Dominican timeout. The Falcons got another kill out of the timeout to climb in front before a Dominican sideout. The Falcons then closed out the frame with back-to-back kills.
The Falcons limited any runs by the Stars in the second and third sets, going 26-36 on sideouts.
"The future of our program is bright," said Andrew. "Returning the vast majority of our starters puts us in a great place to begin 2019. While we will take some time to reflect and appreciate the season, next year begins tomorrow."
"I said to the team in the locker room that I want to thank the seniors for all they gave to our program.
Mallory [Jones] and Megan [Parker] are such wonderful people and I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to coach them. Now they get to go into their careers and do great things."
