The Dominican University men's volleyball team, ranked sixth in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Men's Division III Poll, took on a pair of AVCA top 15 opponents at North Central College on Saturday, sweeping the #12 California Lutheran University Kingsmen before topping the host North Central College Cardinals in three sets.
 
Behind a one-two offensive punch of Ethan Klosak and Jake Sidner, the Stars hit .308 in the winning efforts while limiting the Kingsmen and Cardinals to a combined .016 attack percentage while forcing 45 errors behind 2.08 blocks per set.
 
With the wins, Dominican improves to 4-1 on the season with Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play on deck for Friday.  The Stars will host the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons on Friday night to open league play before taking on the North Park Vikings in non-conference action.
 
"It was with heavy hearts that we took the court today," said Dan Pawlikowski, Dominican's head men's volleyball coach, following the wins. "DU men's volleyball alumnus Jeremy Royko lost his second sister in less than 12 months this past week. Our young program has a very tightknit network and we had Jeremy and his family in our hearts as we took to the court. It was amazing to watch our program rally, both current and former members, to support the Royko family. While it is great to get the wins, especially over ranked opponents, we are reminded what are the most important things in life.  I am very proud to be a part of this DU family."
 
#6 Dominican d. #12 CLU 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-19)
 
The Stars overpowered the 12^th-ranked Kingsmen, hitting .274 behind nine kills apiece from Sidner and Klosak while limiting California Lutheran to a -.092 attack percentage, forcing CLU into 25 attack errors with five blocks and 35 digs.
 
In an impressive 25-14 second set route of one of the country's top teams, Adam Eboli knocked down four kills on just six swings while Dominican allowed just four kills total for the Kingsmen. 
 
Sophomore Jack McGuire doled out 25 assists in the winning effort, utilizing all of his weapons including freshman George Kougan who finished with six kills on 18 attack attempts.
 
Defensively, sophomore libero Bregin DeMarco finished with a match-high ten digs while McGuire, Klosak and Troy Kates tallied two blocks apiece.
 
#6 Dominican d. #7 North Central 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-15)
 
The Dominican University Stars handed the battle-tested North Central Cardinals just their second three-set loss of the season, dominating the Cardinals behind a combined 25 kills for Klosak and Sidner while Dominican hit .337 with 42 kills on 98 swings while committing just nine attack errors.
 
Using seven different attackers, McGuire doled out 35 assists in the winning effort.  Klosak tallied a match-high 14 kills, including five in each of the first two sets.  Sidner added 11 kills while Kougan managed eight on 20 attempts.
 
Defensively, the Stars posted seven blocks at the net.  Eboli collected six block assists while Klosak tallied four and McGuire three.  In the back row, Dominican picked up 39 digs, led by DeMarco's nine, to limit the Cardinals to a .113 hitting percentage.