The Dominican University women's volleyball team kicked off a huge weekend of Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play with a three-set (25-19, 25-22, 25-19) win over the visiting Lakeland University Muskies on Friday night at the Igini Sports Forum. With the win, the Stars improve to 20-6 overall and 7-3 in league play. Dominican can secure a spot in the NACC's six-team postseason tournament with a win on Saturday at Wisconsin Lutheran College.
"This was a big win for us," commented
Cameron Andrew, the Stars' second-year head coach. "Everyone chipped in, all 18 of them…truly a team win. Now we need to replicate this performance in another big match tomorrow at WLC."
The Stars' offense hit .297 in the win, committing just 18 errors on 101 total attacks. Freshman
Ola Magiera led three attackers in double-digit kills with 12. The rookie was consistent throughout the night, knocking down four kills in each of the three sets. Sophomore
Gabija Sinickaite and junior
Haley Notzen terminated ten rallies apiece while
Keely McCallum finished the night with seven kills on 19 swings.
Anastasia Labadessa and
Madi Palmer ran the Stars' offense, dishing out 21 and 20 assists respectively while utilizing eight different attackers.
Dominican was also the aggressor at the serving line, doubling up the visiting Muskies in aces, 8-4.
Sarah Lychock led the Stars' serving effort, racking up three aces while Palmer and
Madeline Morrow picked up two aces apiece.
Defensively, the Stars slowed the Muskies to a .193 attack percentage, forcing 12 errors while allowing just 29 kills. Lychock and
Gillian Jones led the back row effort with 11 digs apiece while Sinickaite and McCallum led the charge at the net, collecting two block assists each.
"I'm very proud of this team and where we are right now," continued Andrew. "After a tough home loss to Concordia Wisconsin, this group has responded so strongly and has not dropped a set since. Haley was big for us tonight. She played the best game of her career. Anytime we needed a big point, Haley seemed to be the one to find it. She's playing with great confidence right now and it's really helped us on this run."
The Stars will take on Wisconsin Lutheran tomorrow at noon in Milwaukee before returning home for the final game of the regular season next Wednesday, hosting the Aurora University Spartans for a 7:00 p.m. first serve.
