Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – A night after playing an exhausting five-set match, the Dominican University of California volleyball team ran into the first-place, hard-hitting, nationally-ranked Fresno Pacific Sunbirds on Saturday night.
It wasn't perfect timing.

Though the Penguins produced some memorable individual gems, the host team couldn't match the Sunbirds' tall frontline as Fresno Pacific, the 25th ranked team in NCAA Division II, dealt Dominican a 25-14, 25-18, 25-19 setback in a Pacific West Conference contest in the Conlan Center.

“We haven't seen a team that big this season,” said Dominican Head Coach Gayle Stammer. “That's a little intimidating but we weren't intimidated in set three. What we get better at is the fact is we can still win and compete as a smaller team with tough serves, ball control, and smarts.”

Jessica Jones and Samantha Rains topped the Lady Penguins (3-2, 5-8) with eight and seven kills, respectively, and teammate Kelsey Lardner recorded a game-best 22 assists. Freshman Sari Kwan had 12 digs and two service aces and Hannah Stocking-Siagkris contributed seven digs a day after she recorded a career-tying 18 in a five-set loss to Chaminade.

Hannah Butler had 16 digs and 6-foot-1 teammate Rupia Inck had 16 kills. She combined with 6-2 Morghan Williams for 11 kills in the opening set for the Sunbirds (13-1/5-0) who had nine service aces in the match.

“We learned that we can go up and battle with the best of them,” said Stammer. “We just have to figure out how to get it done earlier in the match.”

In the first set, a Rains kill tied the game early but the Sunbirds responded by scoring nine consecutive points. Dominican's highlight play was a dig by Kwan, followed by a one-arm save by Lardner that kept a volley alive and led to a Dominican point that at the time closed the deficit to 15-9. But Fresno Pacific countered by scoring seven points in a row.

The Sunbirds maintained their momentum in the second set, tallying the first 11 points. Stocking-Siagkris and Jones sparked the Lady Penguins with a pair of terrific kills in the set and a service ace by freshman Valerie Larsen followed by a big block by senior Ashlee Sand capped Dominican's best playing stretch on the evening, cutting a 12-point Fresno Pacific lead in half to 23-17.

The tightest game of the night was the last one. The Lady Penguins rallied from an early 4-0 deficit and five times tied the set, the final time at 15-all on a Sand kill. Rains led Dominican with four kills in the final set and freshman Laura Price had a killer kill, too.

The Lady Penguins are off until Thursday when they host rival Holy Names University in a PacWest contest in the Conlan Center. Game time is 7:00 p.m. As always, lIve volleyball coverage – live stats, video, and audio – will be available at www.dominicanathletics.com/live.