FRESNO, Calif. — The Dominican University of California women's volleyball opened PacWest play with a 3-1 (25-22, 25-12, 24-26, 25-20) loss at Fresno Pacific on Saturday.

The two teams traded points in set one until a pair of FPU (1-5/1-0 PacWest) kills and a Dominican (3-4/0-1 PacWest) attack error opened up the set, 21-18, in favor of the Sunbirds. The Penguins responded and pulled within one, 23-22, to force an FPU timeout but the Sunbirds responded with the next two points to take an early 1-0 lead. The momentum continued into the second set as FPU took a quick 6-1 lead. From there, The Penguins dropped the set 25-12. The Penguins rebounded in set three, thanks in part to Madeline Powelson donning the libero jersey for the third set. The Penguins again trailed 21-18 but came out of a timeout and finished the set on an 8-3 run to force a fourth set. The Penguins were unable to hold onto a 16-14 lead as FPU responded out of a timeout with an 11-4 run of its own.

Sophomore Aimee Steinwand led the Penguins with 17 kills, though she also committed 14 of Dominican's 26 attack errors. Amanda Wasko tallied 10 kills and 19 digs for her second double-double of the season, and added a service ace. Powelson had a team-high 23 digs and a service ace. Junior setter Hannah Smith dished out 42 assists, had 13 digs, and also had an ace.

Gabriela Macedo led the Sunbirds with 20 kills and added 17 digs. Bissie DenHartog dished out 54 digs and added 10 digs. Sarah McCann added 12 kills and a match-high 25 digs in the win.

Dominican will now embark on a three-match road trip to Hawaii. The Penguins begin the trip on Thursday, Sept. 24 at Chaminade, and will also face BYU-Hawaii and Hawai'i Pacific on the trip.