SAN FRANCISCO – Sophomore Tiffany Wong and junior Catherine Johnson combined for a powerful attack on the outside to lead Dominican women's volleyball to a 16-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-16 victory Wednesday night over Academy of Art at Kezar Pavilion.

Wong finished with a double-double of 18 kills and 18 digs with a .400 hitting percentage, while Johnson was close behind with 17 kills on a .306 hitting percentage to go with three block assists. Sophomore middle blocker Kiana Pelton also made a strong impact for the Penguins (2-20, 2-15 PacWest) with nine kills, six blocks and three aces.

Carly Evetts led the Urban Knights (10-13, 7-8 PacWest) with 14 kills on a .481 hitting percentage to go with three blocks and six digs. Dominican held most of the other ART U hitters in check, holding the team to a .162 hitting percentage in the match.

The Urban Knights got off to a quick start in the first set as Ashley Pawlak capped off a match-opening 5-0 run with two aces. Sadie Emery tallied three kills and a block assist in the opening minutes to help extend the lead to 8-2, but Wong then caught fire, finding the floor four times over the next seven points to bring the Penguins back within one. The Urban Knights were able to stop the bleeding and hold on to the lead for the next several minutes. Emery then recorded two more kills and Picabo Reinhold served up a pair of aces to fuel a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 17-10 and they rode the momentum to the 1-0 lead in the match.

ART U took advantage of several Dominican errors in the early minutes of the second set to build a 6-3 lead, but the Penguins began to slowly chip away and Pelton combined with Eleni Loizou for a block to cut the deficit to 9-8. Evetts briefly stymied the momentum with a kill and an ace in a 4-point Urban Knight run, but Pelton combined with Johnson for a block before serving up an ace in a 3-0 run to keep within striking distance. Wong then started another 3-0 run with a kill and Pelton ended it with one of her own to tie the set 17-17. The teams began a seesaw battle and Pawlak had a late ace to make it 23-21 in favor of ART U as they appeared ready to close out on another set victory. Edee Leslie and Haley Frederking came to the Penguins rescue. Leslie started a run with a kill and Frederking followed up with a strong serve for an ace to tie the set. Leslie then combined with Rebecca Smith for a block to get Dominican to set point and Frederking left no chance for the Urban Knights with another ace to tie the match 1-1.

Pelton gave Dominican the first run of the second set as she put down an overpass for a kill before recording back-to-back blocks to give Dominican a 10-8 lead. After a service error, Pelton and Johnson each recorded kills to finish out the 7-1 run and extend the lead to four. The Urban Knights responded immediately as Emery found the court twice to power a 4-point run to tie the set. The set continued to go back and forth until Smith sparked a late 3-0 run with a block and a kill before Wyles served up an ace to make it 20-18 in favor of Dominican. ART U fought back to tie the set one last time on a kill from Mariana Figueroa, but the Penguins spread the ball around to Wong, Smith and Pelton for one last 3-point burst to give it the edge it needed to close out the set victory.

Dominican seized on the momentum and several Urban Knight errors helped them build an early 5-1 lead in the fourth set. Evetts finished back-to-back kills to tie the set before capping off a 6-1 run with another kill to take the 9-8 lead. Johnson then sparked the Penguins with a block assist and a kill to retake the 3-point lead before Pelton had a kill and two service aces to extend the lead to seven on a 9-1 run. Dominican never looked back and Pelton ended the match with back-to-back kills to get the Penguins back into the win column.

The Penguins will return to the court Satruday to face Notre Dame de Namur at Walter Gleason Gymnasium at 1 p.m. PDT. Live stats and video will be available online.