BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO —  The growing pains of the Dominican University of California women's volleyball team continued on Saturday night as the Lady Penguins lost 25-13, 25-16, 25-8 to a more experienced Academy of Art squad in 87-year-old Kezar Pavilion.

The Lady Penguins (0-8/0-1), who had four sophomores and a freshman in their starting lineup, couldn't keep up with the Urban Knights (4-6/1-0), who started four seniors and a junior. It was the Pacific West Conference opener for both teams.

“We're working on our game and we're working on what we have to do and our strengths and weaknesses. Every week is an opportunity to improve on that,” said Dominican Head Coach Gayle Stammer. “I see some changes and progress forward. It just wasn't reflective in this game of that.”

The Lady Penguins' best stretch of play came in the second set after they lost a 4-0 lead as the Urban Knights rattled off seven straight points. Stammer called timeout and her team came out of it with more determination. They scored four consecutive points. Sophomore Seluia "Ria" Falealili had three kills and Skyler Moon contributed another. Dominican eventually regained the lead 10-8 on a service ace by LaShelle Rullan.

“It's about responding,” said Stammer. “It's about staying with the game plan and staying really disciplined and focused. That's the key to becoming successful.”

The Lady Penguins won the best point of the night, too. Trailing 17-12 in the second set, Dominican outlasted AAU on a long rally, kept alive by a pair of great digs by Kelsey Lardner and Jessica Jones and a couple of saves by Lardner and Falealili. Lauren Clark ended the exhilarating rapid back-and-forth play with a block at the net.

“That was a fantastic rally. It was amazing,” said Stammer. “Little victories tonight. Not big victories.”

Sophomores Falealili, Jones, and Lardner led the Lady Penguins in kills (6), digs (14) and assists (13) respectively.

Dominican gets a chance at revenge against AAU next Saturday night when the Urban Knights come to the Conlan Center to play the Lady Penguins. First, Dominican will play in a non-conference match on Tuesday in Rohnert Park where the Lady Penguins play Sonoma State University at 7:00 p.m.