HONOLULU – Dominican women's volleyball started strong but was unable to close out in a 29-27, 25-19, 25-16 loss Friday night to Chaminade at McCabe Gymnasium. 

Junior Rebecca Smith continued to play a crucial utility role for the Penguins (1-15, 1-10 PacWest) as she put down eight kills as an opposite to go with 12 assists in her time as a setter and eight digs. Freshmen middle blockers Edee Leslie and Kiana Pelton each added seven kills with Leslie chipping in two aces and two block assists, while Pelton had three block assists for Dominican. 
    
The Silverswords (17-2, 11-0 PacWest) were led by Rachel Reedy with 16 kills. Annah Rivera and Emma Tecklenburg joined her in double-digit kills for Chaminade with 12 and 14, respectively.

The Swords took advantage of several early attack errors by the Penguins to take a 5-1 lead, but Smith led the response with a kill and a block assist in a 3-point run to cut the deficit to one. Pelton then led a 4-0 run for Dominican with two kills and a block to take a 10-7 lead. Chaminade chipped away at the lead closing to one, but Catherine Johnson found the floor for a pair of kills and Haley Frederking served up an ace in a 5-1 run to make it 16-11 in favor of the Penguins. The Swords came storming back as Rivera showed off her power on the outside with three kills in a 7-point run that gave them a 20-18 lead. 

Several Chaminade errors let Dominican back into the set with a 3-0 run giving them back the lead before a pair of kills by Johnson set them up with set point. Frederking had an excellent serve to get the Swords out of system, but a friendly bounce went their way and they were able to hold off the Penguins on three set points. Reedy then took control late with three kills in a 4-1 run to end the set in a Chaminade victory. 

The Swords were able to capitalize on their momentum and build on a 7-1 run led by a pair of kills from both Reedy and Rivera to make it 10-5. The Penguins closed the gap to three on several Chaminade errors, but Reedy put down back-to-back kills and Leka Kiner-Falefa had back-to-back aces to extend the lead to 19-12. The Swords continued to hold the Penguin offense in check down the stretch to take the 2-0 lead in the match.

After Chaminade started the third set on a 4-0 run, Dominican answered right back and Smith placed a cross court attack perfectly to give it the 5-4 lead. Leslie then added a kill off a block and an ace to give the Penguins a two-point lead. The Swords battled back to take a small lead of its own and the set continued to go back-and-forth until Claire Zanon led a 9-0 run with three service aces to take the 22-13 lead on the way to the sweep.

Dominican will conclude its road trip Sunday against the University of Hawai'i at Hilo at 7 p.m. HST at UHH Gymnasium. Live stats and video will be available online.