The Dominican University men's volleyball team, ranked sixth in this week's AVCA Men's Division III Top 15 poll, dropped to 6-3 on the season, falling to the #3 Carthage College Red Men in three sets (25-18, 25-22, 25-16) on Wednesday night at the Igini Sports Forum.  The Stars scored just 36 points, managing to hit at just a .138 clip in the losing effort.
 
"Carthage played a great match tonight," said Dominican University head coach Dan Pawlikowski. "They were firing on all cylinders.  There were moments of great competition but we need to find a way to play a complete match against the top teams in the country. In order for us to go where we want this season, it is imperative for us to find that consistency."
 
The Carthage offense hit .392 for the night, knocking down 40 kills to just 11 errors on 74 total attacks behind setter Matt Reinsel who dished out 35 assists.  Sophomore Mason Moore paced the Red Men with 11 kills while junior Evan Walsh added ten.
 
For Dominican, junior Adam Eboli knocked down a team-high seven kills on just 12 swings while Ethan Klosak, Nick Timreck and Jake Sidner added five kills apiece.  Freshman setter Jack McGuire tallied 22 assists in making his third start of the season.
 
Defensively, the Carthage block won the battle at the net, posting ten total blocks to Dominican's four while the Red Men also out-dug the Stars, 31-19.
 
After its Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) opener was postponed last Friday, Dominican will open league play on Friday, February 16, traveling to Milwaukee to meet the MSOE Raiders.  The match is slated for a 7:00 p.m. at the Raiders' Kern Center.