SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's volleyball fell 25-17, 25-26, 25-17 Saturday night to Point Loma Nazarene University at the Conlan Center.
Junior middle blocker
Eleni Loizou led the Penguins (1-13, 1-8 PacWest) with six kills and two blocks, while junior libero
Hana Wyles added 15 digs. Torina Hommes led the Sealions (10-6, 6-2 PacWest) with 11 kills and two blocks.
Dominican grabbed some early momentum as
Catherine Johnson found the floor on a pair of kills to lead a 4-point run and give the Penguins the 5-3 lead. PLNU was able to flip the lead again with a 5-0 run powered by a pair of aces from Courtney Dyer making it 9-6. The Penguins closed it to one, but Jamie Cymbaluk had a kill off the Dominican block and then combined with Madie Fox for a block in a 4-0 run that gave the Sealions a 15-10 lead. The Penguins were unable to pull any closer and Cymbaluk continued her heavy hitting with a pair of kills in a set ending 4-0 run.
After trading points to open the second set, Grace Hicks led a personal 3-0 run with a kill and a pair of block assists to make it 11-7 in favor of Point Loma. Loizou responded likewise with a kill and two block assists combining with Johnson to cut the lead back to one a few minutes later. The Sealions continued to add to their lead with small runs until Hommes hit a ball hard into an empty spot in the middle of the court to spark a 6-1 run to give them the 2-0 lead in the match.
Hicks again provided some strong defense for PLNU early in the second set as she collected two block assists in a 4-point run that made it 11-6 for the Sealions. Loizou answered with a pair of kills hitting her second through a block to cut the deficit to 12-10. Alexis Soncrant had back-to-back kills to right the ship for PLNU as it built back a five-point advantage. It was all the room they would need as they held off the Penguins for the sweep.
Dominican will head to Hawai'i next week for three games beginning Thursday at Hawai'i Pacific at 7 p.m. HST. Live stats and video will be available online.
