The Dominican University women's volleyball team suffered a pair of losses on Friday, falling to the Gustavus Adolphus College Golden Gusties 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-21, 25-23) and the University of Dubuque Spartans 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-21) on day one of the 2018 Loras Invitational in Dubuque, Iowa.
"I'm really proud of the effort we put in against Gustavus," said Cameron Andrew, the Stars' first-year head coach. "It was great to see us push a top-ten team that far. The match was right there and we just couldn't close out some of those sets."
In the first match of the day, Dominican was paced by #Amanda Ricca# who knocked down 15 kills on 38 swings, hitting .263 in the losing effort. The 15 kills were a career best for the junior from Crystal Lake, Illinois.
Stephanie Cole and
Elin Ream added eight kills apiece as eight different attackers combined to hit .161 for the Stars. Defensively,
Megan Parker surpassed 20 digs for the third time on the season, collecting a team-high 26 digs. At the net, Dominican posted five total blocks with Cole logging four block assists and
Gabija Sinickaite tallying three.
In the nightcap against Dubuque, the Stars hit a season-low .042, committing 25 errors while managing just 32 kills on 151 attempts. Dubuque limited the Stars at the net, posting ten total blocks. Sinickaite found the most success offensively for the Stars, knocking down eight kills on 32 swings and hitting at a .156 clip. Defensively, the Stars tried to slow the Spartans, collecting 74 digs with Parker leading four players in double-digits with 21 digs.
"Dubuque was a disappointing match," commented Andrew. "You have to give credit where it is due and they controlled the match from the beginning and we couldn't not find any rhythm."
The losses drop Dominican to 3-4 on the season with a pair of games on deck tomorrow to close out the Loras Invitational. The Stars will meet Monmouth College at 9:00 a.m. before challenging University of Northwestern to close out tournament play at 1:00 p.m.
"We have to find more consistency in the way we approach each match," continued Andrew. "We have an opportunity to do start doing that tomorrow."
