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SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Dominican University of California women's volleyball team got off to a slow start in Saturday's rematch with first-place University of Hawai'i – Hilo and it set the tone for the match, as the Lady Penguins were downed in three straight sets, 25-14, 25-22, 25-18, in Pacific West Conference action.

An early 6-2 Vulcan (9-3/4-1) set the ton early and UHH eventually pushed the lead to double digits at 23-13. A bad Vulcan set put one more point on the board for Dominican (2-15/0-6) before the Vulcans slammed the door in set one with a pair of kills.

The Lady Penguins looked much more alive in set two, trading points until 9-9. UHH made a couple of errors but rebounded with two kills to stay ahead 15-12. Things looked bad again for Dominican at 23-17 but the Lady Penguins didn't give up, recording five straight points to pull within a point. Unforuntaely for the Lady Penguins, UHH's Hillary Hurley was in the middle to close the set out with a pair of kills.

After the 7-7 mark, the Vulcans held a one to two-point lead throughout the third set and pulled away on two more Hurley kills to make it 20-14.

Freshman Ria Falealili continued her solid play after earning a place on last week's PacWest Weekly Top 10 Honor Roll. The freshman outside hitter tallied 11 kills and one of Dominican's two service aces. Fellow freshman outside hitter Hannah Stocking recorded 10 kills and half a dozen digs in the defeat. Freshman libero Ashley Pittman led Dominican with a dozen digs.

Hurley, a junior for the Vulcans, led all players with 24 kills. Senior Leilani Ramsey and junior Rachael Thornquist each added nine kills in the victory.

Dominican takes the court for its third match in four days on Monday, October 12 when BYU-Hawaii, who is tied for first with UHH, visits the Conlan Center. First serve has been moved up to 5:00 p.m. due to the 2010 California Governor's Debate taking place on campus on Tuesday, October 13. Thursday's match remains at 7:00 p.m. and will be followed by the second annual Midnight Mayhem, sponsored by the Penguin Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which will debut the 2010–2011 Dominican basketball teams as they take the court together for the first time. For more information on the debate, please visit www.CaGovDebate.com.