HAYWARD, Calif. — The Dominican University of California women's volleyball team split a pair of five-set matches in the final day of the Route 92 Showdown hosted by Cal State East Bay. Dominican rallied from behind versus Cal State Dominguez Hills (1-2) to win 3-2 (15-25,25-18,21-25,25-21,16-14) but dropped the nightcap 3-2 (26-28,22-25,25-16,25-15,15-12) to Stanislaus State (3-0) after taking an initial 2-0 lead.

Amanda Lee set a single-match program record in the Division II era with 39 digs in the Penguins' win over Cal State Dominguez Hills. However, it took the Penguins a while to gain momentum. They dropped set one 25-15, then rebounded in set two with a 9-2 run that forced a Toros timeout. Still, the Penguins held on and Hannah Smith's service ace evened the set in favor of Dominican, 25-18. The back-and-forth affair continued in set three with the Toros taking that set 25-21. Dominican used a 10-2 run to force a fifth set with a 25-21 victory in set four. Smith, who had 39 assists in the outing, began set five with another of her seven service aces — also a program record, as the Penguins jumped out to a 5-1 lead. Yet, the Toros chipped away and tied the set at 9-9. The score seesawed back and forth through to 13-13. Aimee Steinwand made one of her 21 kills, then Smith caught the defense offguard with a kill off her own. A Toros error sealed the deal to give Dominican the set, 16-14, and its second win of the season.

The momentum continued into the first two sets versus Stanislaus State but Blair Ehrlich's 26 kills proved to be the difference. Dominican rallied from behind to take a 28-26 win in set one, then looked on its way with a 25-22 win in set two. However, after three matches, the Penguins showed their fatigue. Dominican, still without All-PacWest player Amanda Wasko (knee), suited up eight players, who all saw considerable time on the floor this weekend. Meanwhile, Stanislaus State used 13 players in the match. The Warriors surged ahead 25-16 in set three, then never looked back, taking set four 25-15 and the decisive set 15-12.

Lee nearly matched her performance from the previous match with 37 digs to average 6.94 digs/set for the weekend, which currently leads the PacWest. Madeline Powelson added 31 digs in the loss and had 47 on the day while Steinwand again led the Penguins with 19 kills.

The Penguins will have some time to recuperate from the weekend. They'll face Sonoma State in Dominican's home opener on Friday, Sept. 11. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.