Sanchit Khaitan had 17 assists Friday,
but Augustana fell in three sets to
seventh-ranked Dominican in River
Forest, Illinois.
RIVER FOREST, Ill.— Seventh-ranked Dominican made short work of Augustana Friday night, defeating the Vikings in straight sets at the Igini Sports Forum. The Stars, who've dropped just two sets all season, improved to 10-0, while the Vikings dropped to 9-7.
Set one was tied at one, two and three-all before an Augustana attack error put the hosts up 4-3. They claimed the next two points as well and would lead the rest of the way. The Vikings were still as close as 15-13 after a kill by sophomore
John Cunningham (Hononegah HS, Roscoe, Ill.), but the Stars closed with a 10-2 run to win 25-15. Ethan Klosak delivered set point with a service ace.
Augustana had its only two leads of the night in game two. A Star attack error put the Vikings up 3-2 and a kill by freshman
Jarod Hesse (Grayslake North HS, Lake Villa, Ill.) gave the guests a 4-3 advantage. After Dominican captured the next three points, the Vikings forged one final tie at six-all, but the Stars took control with a 5-0 run. Augustana wouldn't get closer than four points the rest of the way. A Klosak kill closed out a 25-15 Dominican win.
With the exception of a 1-1 tie, the Stars led wire-to-wire in set three. The Vikings trailed 13-8, but Hesse had two kills in a 6-2 run, capped by a
Jason Szara (Lincoln-Way East HS, Frankfort, Ill.) kill, that pulled Augustana to within a point (15-14). However, Dominican answered with five straight to take command. Match point in a 25-19 Star victory came on a Viking service error.
Sophomore
Luis Zavala (Lincoln-Way East HS, Frankfort, Ill.) finished with eight kills and Hesse added seven. Sophomore
Sanchit Khaitan (Glenbard North HS, Bloomingdale, Ill.) had 17 assists and junior
Gary Dodovich (St. Benedict HS, Chicago, Ill.) led Augustana with eight digs and its only ace. Dodovich and Hesse were each in on a pair of blocks.
Kosak had nine kills for Dominican. Jack McGuire had 26 assists and Bregin DeMarco a dozen digs. All were match highs.
The Vikings are back in action on Saturday, February 29, taking on Maranatha Baptist (3:15 p.m.) and Concordia-Chicago (5:15 p.m.) in Chicago, Illinois.
