Box Score PHOENIX, Ariz. — The Dominican University of California women's volleyball team concluded its short two-game road trip with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-17) loss to Grand Canyon University on Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Penguins (5-12/3-6) could never quite find their bearings against the 'Lopes (17-3/6-3), who entered the match ranked sixteenth in the nation in the latest NCAA Division II women's volleyball rankings. It was the tale of teams headed in opposite directions, as Dominican dropped its sixth straight after stringing together a four-game win streak. It was the third straight win for the 'Lopes, who opened the season with 10 straight victories.
After dropping the first set 25-14, a
Laura Price kill began a six-point rally for the Lady Penguins that tied set two 12-12. GCU responded with a 13-3 run though and Dominican soon found itself trailing 2-0 in the match. Dominican scored the first point in set three before falling behind by five points, 18-13. A 4-1 Lady Penguins rally brought Dominican back within striking distance, 19-17, but the 'Lopes again proved why they're a nationally-ranked team by putting it out of reach with a five-point run to close the match.
Sophomore
Samantha Rains led the Lady Penguins with six kills. Junior
Hannah Stocking-Siagkris added five kills and senior
Ashlee Sand added four down the middle. Freshman libero
Sari Kwan recorded 14 kills. Stocking-Siagkris and senior
Katy Batchelder each made six digs.
Despite the straight-set loss, Dominican didn't allow any GCU players to reach double digit kills. Kaitlynn Ausmus led the 'Lopes with nine kills, followed by Hayleigh Friemoth with seven.
The Lady Penguins return home to the Conlan Center to host a pair of games against Academy of Art University on Oct. 19 and BYU-Hawaii on Oct. 23. Dominican and Art U have met twice and split so far while BYU-Hawaii enters ranked No. 10 in the NCAA Division II national rankings. Both matches are set to begin at 7:00 p.m. and will be covered live online at
www.dominicanathletics.com/live.
