BOX SCORE

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Dominican University of California women's volleyball team picked up their second win of the season with a close 3-2 non-conference victory over host Holy Names University.

The NAIA D-II Lady Hawks (2-8) made it difficult for the Lady Penguins (2-8) through the entire match and managed to swipe games one and two 25-23 and 25-20, respectively.

Dominican roared back in game three against their former rivals, topping HNU 25-21.  The Penguins jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in game four off the strong serving of Tianna Tuatagaloa, which would make all the difference as Dominican outlasted HNU 25-22.

Dominican stayed a step ahead of Holy Names the rest of the way, racing to an 8-6 lead in game five.  Cayla Morphew's solo block gave Dominican a 14-10 advantage and the last of Gabby Pecora's team-high 19 kills clinched the match.

The difference was at the net, where Dominican outblocked Holy Names 19.5 to 5. Ashlee Sand was lights out with nine solo blocks.

Setter Brooke Swingle recorded 21 assists and a team-leading two service aces for Dominican.

Ashley Nickell led Holy Names with 13 kills.

“Whether it's NAIA or NCAA, Holy Names is always a tough competitor,” Dominican head coach Roger Goodwin said. “We fell behind but just kept scratching away. We showed a lot of character tonight and it's going to carry us into conference play.”

Dominican travels to Atherton to face another former rival, Menlo College, on Sept. 15 at 7:00 p.m. before their first-ever Pacific West Conference match on Sept. 17 at home against Notre Dame de Namur University.