Box Score SAN FRANCISCO -- Dominican women's volleyball kicked off its season Thursday with a loss to San Francisco State 3-1 (20-25, 18-25, 25-23, 22-25) in the first game of the Route 92 showdown.
 
Despite the loss, the Penguins (0-1) saw the debuts of freshmen Josie Walser, Catherine Johnson, Eleni Loizou and Chelsea Bone. Walser led the team in assists (32) to go with three service aces and four digs. Johnson earned double-digits kills with 11, and had eight digs, five assists and one service ace.
 
Seniors Aimee Steinwand and Susanna Pilkerton added strong performances of their own. Pilkerton led the Penguins early with seven kills in the first two sets and ended the night with 11 kills, 12 points and three digs. Steinwand emerged in the final two sets and finished the game as the team leader in points (17.5), kills (12), and digs (23).
 
SF State's Lauren Williams led the Gators (1-0) with 21 points and 17 kills. Jocelyn Rodriguez had 24 digs and three service aces.
 
Dominican never led in the first set, but showed some promise in the second. The Penguins led off and on up until an even score of 16-16. However, the Gators took advantage of several attack errors after and took the set 18-25.
 
Dominican would not go down easy, winning the third set 25-23 behind a strong performance from Steinwand. The Penguins grabbed the momentum early in the third set as Josie Walser had two aces and several Gator attack errors made it 6-1. Dominican led by as much as seven after a kill by Catherine Johnson and an SFSU attack error made it 14-7. The Gators
 
The Penguins continued their dominance in the first half of the fourth set, but San Francisco State came from behind to even the score at 12-12 and used a late 4-1 run to hold off the Penguins.
 
Dominican continues their Route 92 showdown Saturday as they travel to Hayward, California, to face Chico State and Cal State East Bay at 4:30 and 7 p.m. PST, respectively.