Box Score HILO, Hawai'i – Dominican women's volleyball put the pressure on the University of Hawai'i Hilo, but was unable to close out in a 25-19, 29-27, 25-20 loss Sunday night at UHH Gymnasium.
Sophomore outside hitter
Tiffany Wong regained some of her pre-injury form as she led the Penguins (1-16, 1-11 PacWest) with a double-double of 12 kills and 10 digs. Junior outside hitter
Catherine Johnson added 10 kills on a .280 hitting percentage, while junior libero
Hana Wyles added 26 digs and seven assists for Dominican. The Vulcans (15-5, 10-2 PacWest) were led by Bria Beale's double-double of 14 kills and 16 digs, while Kendall Kott spread the ball around effectively to six different hitters to collect 42 assists on the night.
The first set was close throughout with Alexandria Parisian recording a block assist and a kill to spark an early 4-0 run to put the Vulcans ahead by three.
Rebecca Smith found the court moments later to cut the deficit to one as the Penguins kept within striking distance. UHH then went on a 3-0 run capped by a kill from Amber Tai to make it 8-4. Dominican kept it close for a good portion of the set, but a late 3-point run from the Vulcans extended the lead to 22-17 and they were able to take the 1-0 lead in the match.
Beale had a kill and an ace to cap a 3-0 run for UHH with an ace that dipped right onto the backline to give it a 12-9 lead in the second set.
Edee Leslie had a kill and two block assists to answer and force a Vulcan timeout. Wong found an empty spot in the middle of the court out of the timeout and
Vanna Marquez followed with an ace to push the run to five and give Dominican a 14-12 lead. Armani Moultrie capped a 4-point run to answer as Hilo regained the two-point lead.
The teams traded small runs until
Kiana Pelton had a solo block to set the Penguins up with set point. It briefly looked like Dominican took the set, but a touch was ruled by the back line judge to keep the set going and the Vulcans reached set point with a block by Beale and Moultrie. The Penguins fended off the set point and then Johnson followed up a big dig by Wong to keep a rally going with a kill down the line to take the 27-26 lead. Hilo had one 3-0 run left in them to take the set 29-27 on a kill from Beale.
The Vulcans rode the momentum in the third set as they opened on a 6-0 run. The lead grew to as many as 10 on a block by Moultrie. Dominican battled back and cut the lead to three on a block by Johnson and Pelton, but the lead was too large to overcome as Hilo won 25-20.
The Penguins will return home Friday to host Concordia University Irvine at 7 p.m. PDT at the Conlan Center. Live video and stats will be available online.
