The Dominican University men's volleyball team closed out its 2018 Spring Break Trip in style on Tuesday, sweeping the Hunter College Hawks (25-16, 25-19, 25-19) before taking the five mile trip across Manhattan to sweep the #8 NYU Violets (25-23, 25-16, 26-24).  The wins push the Stars to 15-4 on the season, going 5-1 on their road trip to New York and New Jersey, including wins over #8 Southern Virginia and #5 UC-Santa Cruz.
 
"This was a really great way to close our east coast trip," commented Dan Pawlikowski, the Stars' first-year head coach. "Another spirited match against a highly ranked NYU.  We have had some excellent individual contributions but more importantly have played well as a group and might be playing our best volleyball of the season so far. We had intent and purpose behind our play and it showed on the court and in the results."
 
Sophomores Ethan Klosak and Jake Sidner led the way in the win over the Hawks, knocking down 15 and 11 kills respectively.  Freshman setter Jack McGuire doled out 22 assists while Evan Ruffner collected 15 assists as the pair ran the Stars' offense to a .446 attack percentage.
 
Defensively, Dominican was led by David DeMarco's 12 digs while Troy Kates collected four total blocks and Klosak added three.
 
After the short trip through Manhattan, Luke Spicer carried the offensive load along with Nick Timreck and Klosak.  Spicer knocked down 13 kills on 28 swings while Klosak and Timreck added seven kills apiece.  McGuire posted 27 assists, running the offense to a .232 attack percentage.
 
Timreck posted four solo blocks at the net and added two block assists for six total blocks.  Adam Eboli added two solo blocks as Dominican posted eight total blocks.  In the back row, DeMarco continued to lead the way, collecting 12 digs as Dominican limited the Violets to a .132 attack percentage.
 
Dominican returns to the Chicagoland area and will get back to Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) action on Friday, traveling to Lisle, Illinois, to take on the #13 Benedictine University Eagles. The match is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. start at Benedictine's Dan and Ada Rice Center.