Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Dominican University of California women's volleyball team entered Friday night's match against rival Academy of Art as the No. 1 team in the Pacific West Conference in service aces.

Thus the Penguins probably felt like justice was served.

With 17 service aces —  its most ever in an NCAA Division II or PacWest match — Dominican netted a 25-22, 24-26, 25-15, 25-17 victory in the Conlan Center, avenging a disappointing four-set loss to the Urban Knights (5-14/2-7) in San Francisco on Oct. 6. The win also allowed the Penguins (6-12/4-6) to snap a six-match losing streak after they won four consecutive matches in September.

“We're back,” said Dominican Head Coach Gayle Stammer. “That's my old team. That's the team I remember. They went away when we were on the road.”

Samantha Rains led Dominican with 12 kills, 16 digs, and four blocked shots. She was one of seven Lady Penguins to record an ace, the most service aces Dominican has had in a match since the Lady Penguins had 15 versus UC Santa Cruz on Nov. 3, 2009.

The timing, two weeks after the loss at Art U, was perfect.

“It was all mental. That's it,” said Rains. “We worked really hard in practice and came out and executed. It all paid off. Thank goodness.”

Hannah Stocking-Siagkris, Jessica Jones, and Ashlee Sand all chipped in with nine kills while Kelsey Lardner had 36 assists, freshman Sari Kwan had a team season-high, single match-high 27 digs, and freshman Valerie Larsen notched a team season-high single-match five service aces.

After splitting the first two sets, the Lady Penguins took control of the match with an assortment of contributors. Kills by Jones and Rains pushed Dominican ahead in the third set then Sand contributed a pair of kills. When an excellent Rains' dig led to a Stocking-Siagkris, the Lady Penguins opened an 11-point lead, 15-4, and settled for 10-point win. Rains had three kills and two blocks in the pivotal set.

In the decisive set, a pair of Rains kills twice rallied Dominican, who never trailed by more than two points at any time throughout the match, to ties. A service ace by Kwan, who is eighth in the PacWest in that category, extended Dominican's lead, then a block by Rains and a kill by Sand helped give Dominican a commanding nine-point lead, 23-14. Freshman Jamie Lavitoria finished the match with, fittingly, a service ace.

Led by Stocking-Siagkris' three service aces, the Lady Penguins quickly built a five-point lead and led by that margin for a fourth time in the opening set when Sand recorded a kill at 12-7. Art U, however, battled back and eventually tied the score at 21-21 before Dominican finished strong. A Rains dig led to a Stocking-Siagkris kill to break the deadlock and a Rains' kill following Kwan's 12th dig provided the winning point. Six different Dominican players recorded kills in the first set, topped by Rains' four.

The Lady Penguins built a five-point advantage in the second set but this time they couldn't hold it. After Kwan's service ace pushed Dominican in front 19-14, the Urban Knights rallied behind their front line of 6-foot-4 Caitlin Boring and 6-3 Lindsay Elgin to take a 24-22 lead and were serving for set point. The Lady Penguins, sparked by a Stocking-Siagkris kill and serving by

Lavitoria off the bench, tied the set and saved one set point before Art U closed it out.

The Lady Penguins, wearing pink hair ribbons and shoelaces, brought attention to breast cancer by warming up with pink volleyballs. The balls were auctioned off during the match, with a portion of the proceeds going to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

The Lady Penguins are back on the Conlan Center court on Tuesday, Oct. 23 when they host nationally-ranked and first-place BYU-Hawaii in a PacWest contest at 7:00 p.m.  The Seasiders are ranked eighth in the country this week in the American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division II poll. Live coverage will be available at www.dominicanathletics.com/live.