Tim Kalkirtz
sports writer
The Dominican Women’s Volleyball team defeated Concordia University Chicago this past Tuesday a few blocks down Division Street at Concordia. The Stars closed out their regular season within the conference on a positive note, and added a final win to their now 16-10 total record. They will play Greenville College and Carthage College in the Benedictine University Eagle Classic before playing on the Lakeland University Muskies in the NACC Tournament.
There was a huge turnout with a total attendance of 327. This attendance is more than double the average attendance at Dominican home and away games, which is 146.
Dominican came into this game with an 8-3 record within the conference, earning them a spot in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) tournament. Concordia finished with a record of 5-6 in the conference, and did not qualify for the tournament.
Concordia won the first two sets in this matchup 25-22 and 25-21 respectively. The first set was fairly evenly matched statistically, with 7 errors compared to Concordia’s 6, as well as 12 kills compared to 13 from Concordia. The difference, which is indicative of the loss in this set, was the hitting percentage. Concordia’s was .184, besting Dominican’s .135.
The second set was not so evenly matched. The Stars had 10 errors compared to Concordia’s 4, but also had 14 kills compared to 10 from Concordia. Dominican also finished the set with 40 in the total attempt category in comparison to Concordia’s. Hitting percentage was also a big part of the difference, with Concordia’s at .167 and Dominican’s at .100.
The Stars turned it around to win the match, coming back and winning the final three sets. Dominican led by a sizeable margin in the third set, winning 25-15. They also led statistically with 5 errors compared to Concordia’s 6, and 13 kills in comparison to Concordia’s 9. The Stars dominated hitting percentage by a wide margin with a strong .258 and .091 from Concordia.
The fourth set was very close, trading chances often and going past 25. Dominican took the win 27-25, but this match was very evenly matched. Statistically, the hitting percentage was almost equal with .173 from Dominican and .174 from Concordia.
Dominican won the fifth and final set by a decent margin (15-10), but the set was fairly even statistically as well. Dominican had 3 errors compared to Concordia’s 10, but also had 10 kills compared to Concordia’s 7. The Stars also led in hitting percentage .280 compared to Concordia’s .261.
Throughout all the sets, Dominican led in the number of aces with 8 compared to Dominican’s 3. The Stars barely edged Concordia statistically in defense, with 10 blocks compared to 8.
Sophomore Elin Ream was outstanding offensively with 17 kills through 5 sets. Ream finished the night with 18 points from the 17 kills as well as a dig. Senior Kendyl Todd was a key part for Dominican’s defense. Todd had 7 of the team’s 10 blocks.
kalktimo@my.dom.edu