SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's volleyball started strong, but fell 3-1 (16-25, 25-15, 25-16, 25-19) Friday night to Point Loma Nazarene University at the Conlan Center. 

Kate Even led the Penguins (4-8, 2-5 PacWest) in nearly every category collecting 12 kills with no errors for a .571 hitting percentage to go along with three blocks and six digs. Catherine Johnson added eight kills and two blocks. Rachael Schlect lead the Sea Lions (8-7, 5-3 PacWest) with 16 kills and six digs, while Cara Keturakis had 43 assists.

Dominican started out strong in the first set, capitalizing on several PLNU errors and Shaina Snyder served up two aces for a 6-1 lead. Even then capped another 6-1 run with a block and a kill to push the Penguins lead to 14-6. Dominican led by as many as 12 in the set as they rode a .500 hitting percentage to the first set victory. 

The Sea Lions adjusted their line up in the second set, putting Celeste Friesen in at libero, to try and spark their defense. The changes produced instant results as Schlect found the floor on a kill to cap a 4-0 run and give PLNU its largest lead of the match to that point at 6-3. The Penguins battled to keep it close, but the Sea Lions used a 5-0 run to push its lead to 12-6 after back-to-back kills from Schlect. Dominican was unable to recover as Point Loma evened the match at a set apiece. 

The Penguins rebounded early in the third set as Even had two kills and the Sea Lions had two errors to start the set. PLNU fought its way back into the set with a 4-0 run of its own as the teams began to trade leads. After several small runs gave the Sea Lions a four-point advantage, Julia Malinas and Schlect combined for a 5-0 run to take a 21-13 advantage. It was all the room they would need to close out the set for a 2-1 advantage in the match.

The fourth set again saw the teams trade points and leads in the early going as the Penguins relied on a strong block and the Sea Lions used a strong attack. Four Dominican errors helped a 6-0 PLNU run that gave it the lead for good at 17-12. The Penguins closed back within three after Josie Walser and Johnson combined for a block to spark a 4-point run, but it was too late as the Sea Lions went on to win 25-19.

Dominican will be back in action Saturday against Azusa Pacific at 3 p.m. PDT at the Conlan Center. Live stats and video will be available online.