SAN FRANCISCO – Dominican women's volleyball rode an efficient attack to a 30-28, 25-20, 25-18 sweep Monday night of Academy of Art University at Kezar Pavilion.

The Penguins (8-17, 6-14 PacWest) hit season-high .302 in the match with 53 kills, while holding the Urban Knights (1-27, 1-19 PacWest) to a .188 hitting percentage. It was the first time Dominican surpassed a .300 hitting percentage since hitting .303 against Holy Names on Oct. 26, 2017. 

Senior outside hitter Kate Even finished with match-highs of 15 kills and four blocks for the Penguins, while freshman Brittania Chan added a double-double of 13 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore libero Hana Wyles added a match-high 18 digs to go with two aces. 

Ashley Pawlak powered Academy of Art with 12 kills and six digs, while Sadie Emery and Jillian Wheaton each finished with four blocks for the Urban Knights.

After falling behind early, Even led a strong blocking attack with three block assists during a 6-0 run that she capped off with a kill to give Dominican the 12-9 lead. The set remained close until several ART U errors helped the Penguins build a 21-15 edge, but Emery led a 7-0 run for the Urban Knights with two blocks and a kill to retake the lead. Sophomore outside hitter Catherine Johnson found the floor on back-to-back kills as Dominican reached set point at 24-22, but ART U recorded the next two points to keep the set going. The Urban Knights had two set points of their own until Chan sparked the final 3-0 run with a kill and Cat Thomason finished the set with one of her own to give the marathon set to the Penguins 30-28.

The teams traded points for the first half of the match until Thomason led Dominican on a 4-point swing with two kills to give it a 15-12 lead. Johnson, Chan and senior middle blocker Brittany Latigue then put down kills late to extend the lead to 22-17 and the Penguins were able to trade side outs for the 25-20 win. 

Sophomore setter Josie Walser kept the momentum rolling for Dominican in the third set with an opening ace that sparked a 4-1 run. After ART U closed the gap to one, Chan had a kill and an ace to power a 3-point burst to extend the lead to 9-5. Walser sparked another run late with a kill and another ace, while Even chipped in a kill and a block assist to push the lead to seven. The Penguins easily closed out the sweep hitting .469 in the final set as freshman Mariah Ahid punctuated the victory with a kill.

Dominican will head south to take on Azusa Pacific at 6 p.m. PDT Friday at the Felix Event Center. Live stats and video will be available online.