The Dominican University women's volleyball team opened Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play with their neighborhood rival, the Concordia Chicago Cougars, on Wednesday night at the Igini Sports Forum, upending the Cougars in three sets (25-20, 25-23, 26-24).  The Stars controlled much of the first set but had to overcome late deficits in the second and third sets, including scoring the final four points of the match to overcome a 24-22 Concordia lead.
 
"I'm very proud of every single one of our players," said head coach Cameron Andrew, following his team's victory. "They all played a huge part in our success today. We had some really tight moments in there and were able to keep our composure and find a way to execute even when the pressure was on."
 
The Stars were the aggressor at the serving line all night, collecting eight aces and keeping the Cougars scrambling to get into system offensively.  Sophomore Anastasia Labadessa posted a match-high six aces including a string of three early in the first set to stun the Cougars.
 
"One of our pre-match goals was to control the serving game," claimed Andrew. "We thought if we could do that, we would be in a really good position to be successful. Ani really set the tone for us there from the get go."
 
Offensively, sophomore Summer Smith knocked down a match-high 11 kills on 33 swings.  The Elgin native really carried the load in the clinching third set, going for six kills on 17 swings while committing just two errors to lead the Stars to a .205 attack percentage to put the match away.  Amanda Ricca was consistent throughout the night, hitting .538 while knocking down three kills in each set to finish with nine on the match.  Dominican's middles, Stephanie Cole and Olivia Magnussen, tallied seven kills apiece as Labadessa ran a balanced attack, dishing out 35 assists.
 
Defensively, the Stars held Concordia Chicago to a .146 attack percentage, collecting 32 digs and posting three total blocks.  Libero Megan Parker led the way in the back row, gathering in eight digs while Lauren LaVigne added seven.  At the net, Cole and freshman Gabija Sinickaite collected a solo and an assisted block each.
 
With the win, Dominican improves to 5-5 on the season with a non-conference tilt with the Elmhurst Bluejays up next.  First serve in that contest is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Friday night at Dominican's Igini Sports Forum.