The Dominican University women's volleyball team took on the Trine University Thunder in a non-conference tilt on Tuesday night at the Igini Sports Forum with the Stars emerging with a sweep (25-23, 25-18, 25-16). The Stars hit .256 in the winning effort and served up eight aces to improve to 19-6 on the season.
 
"I think we did a fantastic job of running a very balanced offense" said Peter Maniscalco, Dominican University assistant women's volleyball coach. "Our setters did a great job establishing what we wanted to do on our end. When we can have a balanced attack and multiple hitters finding a rhythm, we are a tough team to beat. On the defensive side, we carried over a lot of the tenacity we are seeing at practice and limited their hitters with our block and back court.  We got stronger as the match went on."
 
"We knew Trine has some dynamic and athletic hitters paired with a smart setter and we did a great job applying pressure at the serving line, especially in the last two sets, and keeping them out of system."
 
Anastasia Labadessa and Madi Palmer ran the offense, doling out 14 and 13 assists respectively and helped establish the Dominican's aggressive approach at the service line along with libero Sarah Lychock.  The trio combined to serve six of Dominican's aces with Madeline Morrow and Lauren LaVigne added one ace each.
 
Offensively, Gabija Sinickaite paced the balanced Dominican attack, knocking down nine kills on 18 swings without committing an error.  Ola Magiera, making her fifth start of the season and fourth in a row, collected seven kills while Olivia Magnussen and Haley Notzen terminated six rallies each.
 
For the Thunder, Madison Munger knocked down a match-high 14 kills but the Stars block forced the Thunder into 20 errors, including eight blocks.  Sinickaite and freshman Keely McCallum tallied four block assists apiece while Lychock led the back row effort with a match-high 14 digs.
 
"As a whole we have been focusing on our consistency from start to finish," continued Maniscalco, "and in multiple avenues we took great leaps forward tonight.  We look forward to getting back to the stretch run and hosting a big conference matchup on Friday night."
 
Dominican returns to Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play for the final three matches of the regular season, hosting the Lakeland University Muskies on Friday night for a 7:00 p.m. match at the Igini Sports Forum.