Box Score ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst volleyball team, ranked fifth in the latest AVCA Division III poll, advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship by defeating Dominican University in three sets.

Hosting an NCAA regional for the second straight season, Elmhurst (36-4) upended Dominican 25-16, 25-17, 25-13.

Elmhurst never trailed in the opening set, grabbing a quick 2-1 lead before Dominican evened the score at 9-9. The Bluejays used a 6-2 run to open up a 15-11 lead. Elmhurst pushed its lead up to five points at 19-14 and closed the set on a 5-2 run to grab a quick one set lead.

With the score even at 2-2 early in the second set, Elmhurst ripped off an 8-2 run to build a 10-4 cushion. The Bluejays extended their lead to nine points at 17-8 and cruised to the 25-17 win for the remainder of the set.

Dominican (24-10) battled with the Bluejays early in the third, evening the score at 11-11. The Bluejays took control for the rest of the set, closing the set on a 14-2 run, including scoring the final eight points.

Elmhurst's offense was clicking throughout the match. The Bluejays hit .364 for the match, pounding down 48 kills in 107 attempts with just nine errors. Dominican finished the contest hitting .127 with 30 kills and 16 errors in 110 attacks.

Marci Novak led a balanced Elmhurst attack with 14 kills and eight digs. Sam Szarmach also reached double figures in kills, hammering down 10 in the match. Kaitlyn Wilks added eight kills and two blocks while Megan Reynolds finished with five kills and a block. Jackie Pavilonis came off the bench to finish with six kill and a block. Lauren Lorenz totaled a team-leading 20 assists while Hannah Nimrick finished with 15 assists and four kills. Hannah Lessen led the squad in digs with 17 while Roda Mena chipped in with 15.

Dominican was led by Claire Dezelski's 10 kills and 11 digs. Tessa Griparis and Maddi Zanoni added six kills apiece for the Stars while Caitlen Foote totaled a team-leading 14 digs.

In other first round scores from the Elmhurst regional: #2 Hope defeated Webster 25-21, 25-13, 25-17 while #16 Otterbein downed #25 DePauw 25-21, 25-15, 25-23. Washington University in St. Louis (ranked 11th) edged Wisconsin-Whitewater in there sets (25-16,25-17, 25-13).

Hope will  face Otterbein tomorrow at 4:30 while Elmhurst will take on Washington at 7:00 p.m.