MEDIA RELEASES

The Dominican University volleyball team opens Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference (NIIC) play on September 14 with a match against defending champion Rockford College.  With an NCAA Division III National Tournament bid on the line at the conclusion of conference play, the Stars hope to have developed enough team chemistry with a young team to fight for the conference crown.

With eight underclassmen on their roster, the Stars have had a season of highs and lows in just two weeks.  Last week alone, the Stars went 2-3, posting victories over Aurora (3-0) and Lawrence (3-1) universities but falling to Millikin University (3-0) and Marian (3-1) and Wheaton (3-0) colleges.

Senior Sandra Nowicki earned All-Tournament Team honors at the Jim Coleman Memorial Tournament at Aurora University on Friday and Saturday as the Stars went 2-2 in the tournament , facing Aurora, Lawrence, Millikin and Wheaton.  Nowicki posted 8.00 digs per game in the tournament with 104 digs in 13 games.  Freshman Melanie Hach continued her solid play with 2.77 kills and 5.15 digs per game in the tournament.

In the loss against Marian College on Tuesday, Hach and Nowicki again led the Stars' offense and defense.  Hach posted 10 kills in the match with 27 digs while Nowicki racked up 39 digs in the four-game loss.

The Stars will look to improve their 4-7 record with a pair of home matches this week with Rockford College coming to Dominican University on Tuesday, September 14, for a 7:00 p.m. match and Lake Forest College traveling to Dominican on Thursday, September 16.  The Stars will then travel to Webster University for a tournament on Saturday.