SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Freshman outside hitter Brittania Chan came off the bench to spark Dominican women's volleyball to a come-from-behind 3-2 (21-25, 24-26, 25-12, 25-21, 15-6) victory over Academy of Art on Wednesday night at the Conlan Center.

Chan led the Penguins (6-12, 4-9 PacWest) with 19 kills on .400 hitting percentage to go with seven digs. Sophomore outside hitter Catherine Johnson tied Chan for the match-high with 19 kills on a .333 hitting percentage. Senior outside hitter Kate Even added 10 kills and four service aces, while sophomore setter Josie Walser chipped in 47 assists and three aces. 

Ashley Pawlak led three Urban Knights (0-22, 0-14 PacWest) in double-figure kills with 14 to go with 15 digs. Safua Elisaia added a double-double of her own with 11 kills and 17 digs. Academy of Art amassed 13 blocks on the night, but Dominican answered with a strong match from the service line with 12 aces. The Penguins finished with a .218 hitting percentage and the Urban Knights hit .201 on the night.

Trailing by two sets, head coach Yami Nolan inserted Chan into her starting lineup in the third as she looked for a spark to retake the momentum of the match. The Penguins took advantage of several Urban Knight errors and Chan combined with senior middle blocker Cat Thomason for a block to give Dominican the early 6-2 advantage. Chan then went back-to-back-to-back with kills to extend the lead to seven on a 4-point run and the Penguins began to find their offensive groove. Johnson took a turn leading the offense on a 6-1 run with three kills of her own to push the lead into double figures at 17-6 and Dominican cruised to a 25-12 set victory to seize the momentum for the rest of the match.

Freshman defensive specialist Samantha Brown served up an ace and Walser found the floor on a kill to help Dominican to an early 4-2 lead in the first set, but Elisaia led a 5-0 ARTU charge with a kill and an ace to retake the lead. Even led a quick 3-point burst with a kill and an ace to tie the match, but the Urban Knights seized control of the set with a 4-2 run to take a 13-10 lead. After ARTU expanded its lead to six, freshman outside hitter Mariah Ahid found the floor for a kill and added an ace to lead a 4-0 run to cut the lead to two, but it was the closest the Penguins would get.

Pawlak put down two kills and added a block assist to lead the Urban Knights to the early 8-4 advantage in the second set as Dominican continued to search for a spark on its offense. Even provided a defensive spark with a solo block to start a 4-0 run and tie the match and the teams began to trade points and leads for the next several minutes. Sophomore outside hitter Rebecca Smith gave Dominican a 23-22 lead with a kill, but ARTU ended the set on a 4-2 run to take a 2-0 lead in the match and get to the brink of their first victory. 

The fourth set was tightly contested in the early stages as neither team was able to take a lead greater than two. Johnson then sparked a 6-1 run with four strong kills to give the Penguins a 20-16 lead. Chan then shut the door with the final two kills of a 25-21 set victory to send the match to the deciding set.

Chan had two kills and Even added back-to-back aces to help lead Dominican to an early 7-3 lead in the fifth. Chan then had a part in every point of a 4-0 run with three kills and a block assist to push the lead to 11-4 and the Penguins were able to cruise to the 15-6 victory to take the match.

Dominican will return to the court Saturday to take on Hawai'i Pacific at 3 p.m. PDT at the Conlan Center. Live stats and video will be available online.