SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Dominican University of California women's volleyball team started shaky on Saturday against Hawai'i Pacific but shook off its early miscues for a 3-1 (15-25, 25-20, 25-19, 28-26) victory.

The Penguins (9-6/5-2 PacWest) matched their win total from 2015 despite a shaky start in set one that saw Dominican record a glaring nine errors. The Sharks (8-7/4-2 PacWest), at the tail end of their four-match trip to California and without their starting middle blocker, who was injured the night before at Holy Names, jumped on the opportunity and took the early lead, 25-15. The differential appeared deflating after the Penguins opened the second set with yet another error but the Sharks gave the point right back with a serve into the net. Dominican went on an 8-0 run that included five kills and three Aimee Steinwand service aces. Three HPU errors and a Zoe Burgess ace gave Dominican an 18-12 lead but the Sharks tied the match at 20-20, in large part due to four more Penguin errors. Dominican Head Coach Yami Nolan called timeout and regrouped her squad, which came out of the huddle and went on a 5-0 run to close out the set and even the match at 1-1. An Alyson Brunner service error gave Dominican a 12-11 lead in set three and the Penguins quickly built the lead to 18-12 and cruised into set four with a 2-1 lead. Dominican used a 9-1 run to take a lead in set four but the Sharks used an 8-2 run later on to get take a 22-21 lead. Aimee Steinwand slammed down a kill and Dominican held match point three times before scoring two in a row, which ironically came off of a pair of HPU errors.

Brittany Latigue was pivotal in the Penguins' success on Saturday. The sophomore middle blocker hit .407 and recorded season-highs of 14 kills and nine block assists. Madeline Powelson had a dozen digs, three block assists, and a service ace. Steinwand finished her night with five service aces, which matched a career-high, as well as her tenth double-double of the season (team-high 15 kills, 11 digs). Libero Amanda Lee led all players with 22 digs.

HPU's Pomai Recca led all players with a match-high 22 kills and made it a double-double with 16 digs. Sharks libero Amanda Acosta recorded a team-high 17 digs.

Dominican heads to Academy of Art on Monday, Oct. 3 for the two teams' second match of the season. The Penguins were victorious 3-1 in the first match at the Conlan Center. The Urban Knights have picked up some steam since then to improve to 4-9 overall and 2-2 in conference action. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Kezar Pavilion. Live stats and video will be provided by ART U and will be available at dominicanathletics.com/live.