Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ARCATA, Calif. — The Dominican University of California women's volleyball team got off to a slow start in the team's season opener vs. Chico State but made up for it vs. Humboldt State with a thrilling come-from-behind victory that saw contributions from several new faces.

Dominican (1-1) scuffled early and was swept 10-25, 16-25, 22-25 by the Wildcats (2-0). Head Coach Gayle Stammer's squad regrouped in the nightcap though and stunned host Humboldt State (0-1).

Things looked bleak after the Lady Penguins dropped the first two sets 20-25, 14-25, and fell behind 1-5 early but Dominican came alive midway through set three and didn't look back. Sophomore Samantha Rains recorded one of her 10 kills in the match to tie things at 16 and with the match tied at 20, a pair of Jacks attack errors and a pair of kills but junior Hannah Stocking-Siagkris put the Dominican lead at 24-22. Freshman setter Jamie Lavitoria found Rains for the kill the keep the match going.

Set four remained tight until freshman Sari Kwan gave Dominican momentum with a service ace to take a 19-18 lead. Another pair of Jacks attack errors forced HSU to call timeout. Another Stocking kill and yet another HSU attack error evened the match at 2-2 and forced a deciding set.

With the fifth set tied 10-10, Dominican fell behind 10-12 but it was Stocking again with back-to-back kills. Three more HSU errors ended the match and gave the Lady Penguins their first victory of the season.

Stammer credited Stocking, who finished with a career-high 27 kills and 10 digs in the match and 32 kills on the day, and balanced defense led by her freshmen for rallying back.

“We were able to pull it together with a few minor adjustments,” said Stammer. “Lavitoria stepped up huge, Stocking was the standout on the outside, and our back line was solid with quality passing from Kwan and [Jade] Santos.”

Lavitoria got her college career off to a good start with 27 assists and 14 digs in the win and 40 assists on the day. Kwan had 13 digs vs. HSU and 11 vs. Chico State. Santos added 10 digs in the victory. Senior Ashlee Sand lent a veteran presence with six kills, two solo blocks and a pair of block assists.

The Dominican women are back at it on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. in day two of the Humboldt State Tournament vs. Holy Names University, one of the newest members of the expanded 14-member Pacific West Conference.