SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Junior middle hitter Edee Leslie made plays on both sides of the court to lead Dominican women's volleyball to a 3-1 (25-15, 14-25, 25-22, 26-24) Friday night over Hawaii Pacific at the Conlan Center.

Leslie finished the match with nine kills and six blocks for the Penguins (1-13, 1-4 PacWest), while senior Tiffany Wong played all over the court on her way to a double-double of 12 kills and 22 digs. Dominican finished with a season-high 47 kills on a .174 hitting percentage on the night.

In the fourth and deciding set, the teams went back and forth with Dominican grabbing an early lead led by a block and ace from Wong to make it 11-6. The Sharks (2-11, 1-4 PacWest) battled back slowly chipping away with back-to-back kills from Kira Boynton-Brown capping a 3-0 run to cut the deficit to one. Senior libero Samantha Brown then capped a 4-0 response from the Penguins with an ace to regain some distance, but once again HPU was there to chip away at the lead. The Sharks would take a 22-21 lead after three straight errors from Dominican, but this time it was the Penguins who had the response as senior outside hitter Mariah Ahid hit a ball off the block for a kill and a Shark error gave them back the lead. HPU scored the next two points to get to set point, but the Penguins would not be denied as Ahid found the court on a kill and senior outside hitter Kiana Pelton added a kill of her own to get to match point. Demi Winters then hit a ball into the net with two Penguins ready for the block on the other side of the net and Dominican claimed its first victory of the season in front of a raucous crowd.

The Penguins had a strong start to the match as junior setter Gabi Maiocco and senior setter Haley Frederking spread the ball around to several different pin hitters and freshman middle hitter Ella Jimenez had back-to-back kills to take the 7-2 lead. The lead grew to double digits as Wong put down back-to-back kills for Dominican to make it 16-6. It was all the room they would need as the teams traded points down the stretch with the Penguins take the 1-0 lead.

The Sharks were equally impressive in the second set as Avery Percival sparked a 5-0 run early with an ace to take the lead. Dominican would battle back as Frederking had an ace and Pelton a kill to cut the deficit to one briefly at 9-8, but HPU was able to quickly extend its lead back to six on the back of a 5-0 run on the back of two kills from Karina Gatewood. The Penguins were unable to close the gap and the Sharks evened the match with the set victory.

The teams traded points to begin the third when HPU was bit by the error bug and Brown served up an ace in a 7-0 run to take the 12-5 lead. The errors bit the Penguins just as hard late as a 6-0 run by the Sharks cut their deficit to two, but Wong righted the ship collecting the next three kills for the Penguins, and Leslie and Ahid combined for a block to hold on for the 25-22 set victory setting up the dramatic fourth.

Dominican will return to the court Friday as it hosts rival Holy Names at 7 p.m. PDT at the Conlan Center. The team will be celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness month so fans are encouraged to wear pink.