HILO, Hawaii – Dominican women's volleyball dropped the first game of its road trip 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-17) Friday night to Hawai'i Hilo at UHH Gymnasium.
 
Josie Walse led the Penguins (2-4, 0-1 PacWest) with 22 assists and five digs, while Catherine Johnson added a team-high seven kills. The Vulcans (5-2, 1-0 PacWest) were led by Bria Beale's nine kills on a .444 hitting percentage to go with seven digs and two blocks. Alexandria Parisian had a strong third set on her way to leading all players with 12 kills on the night.
 
UH Hilo used some strong defense and took advantage of several Dominican miscues to go on a 5-0 run and take a 12-5 lead in the first set. The teams continued to trade points the rest of the way until Beale ended the set with a kill to give the Vulcans a 1-0 advantage in sets.
 
The Penguins continued to battle in the second set, trading points with the Vulcans until two kills by Beale and some strong defense helped them open up a 16-11 lead. It was all the room UH Hilo would need on their way to the 25-17 set victory.
 
Beale continued to lead the charge in the third set bookending a 5-1 run to open the set with a pair of kills. Dominican slowly cut into the lead as Josie Walser was able to find the floor with a kill to make it 10-7. Kiley Davis put together back-to-back blocks to extend the Vulcan lead to 13-7 and the lead would grow to as much as nine on their way to the match victory.
 
Dominican will return to action Sunday as they take on Chaminade at 3 p.m. HST at McCabe Gym in Honolulu, Hawaii. Live stats and video will be available online.