SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Dominican University of California women's volleyball team had flashes of brilliance but the team's inconsistency led to a 3-1 (25-18, 25-13, 23-25, 25-16) PacWest loss to visiting Point Loma on Thursday evening.
The Penguins (3-9/0-3 PacWest) were burned by a painfully slow start in set one, falling behind 7-1. Dominican pulled within two but never evened the opening set and the Sea Lions (6-5/3-0 PacWest) finished on a 5-0 run to take the early match lead. The momentum carried into set two for Point Loma, who used an 11-1 run to go up big, 22-9. The Penguins staved off set point twice but a Briana Vieth kill put the Sea Lions up 2-0 in the match.
The Penguins kept three close and eventually broke through with a 6-1 run to take a 19-15 lead. Point Loma tied the set at 20-20 but kills by
Susanna Pilkerton,
Madeline Powelson, and
Aimee Steinwand lifted Dominican to a 25-23 victory.
The momentum didn't last though. A 4-3 set four lead evaporated into an 11-6 deficit and time was against the Penguins, who did outscore the Sea Lions 6-4 down the final stretch but couldn't keep Point Loma from reaching 25 points first.
Steinwand led the Penguins with 10 kills. Powelson added nine. Pilkerton and sophomore setter
Hannah Smith each had four kills. Smith dished out 30 assists and had one of the team's five service aces. Libero
Sari Kwan led all players with 13 kills.
Alyssa Dwyer and Heather Leavitt led Point Loma with 12 kills apiece, followed by Delaney McCraney's 10.
Dominican hosts California Baptist on Friday and Azusa Pacific on Saturday. Both matches are slated to begin at 7 p.m. in the Conlan Center. Live coverage for both matches will be available at
dominicanathletics.com/live and
radio.dominican.edu. Saturday is a and fans are encouraged to wear black to the match.
