HILO, Hawai'i – Dominican women's volleyball went five sets against the University of Hawai'i at Hilo but it was unable to overcome a slow start in the final set falling 3-2 (25-17, 22-25, 19-25, 25-17, 15-5) Wednesday night at UHH Gymnasium.

Senior outside hitter Kiana Pelton led the Penguins with 10 kills and four blocks, while freshman middle Ella Jimenez finished with seven kills on a .286 hitting percentage to go with five blocks. Samara Cruz led the Vulcans with 16 kills, four aces and two blocks. 

Cruz sparked UHH early with two aces in a 6-0 run, but Dominican answered with a 4-point burst to cut the lead to 6-5. The teams traded points for the next several minutes when the Vulcans took advantage of several errors and Tani Hoke served up a pair of aces to take a 20-13 lead. It was all the room UHH would need as they closed out the 25-17 victory.

The second set was a tightly contested battle as Senior outside hitter Mariah Ahid combined with Pelton for a block and then put down a kill to spark 5-1 run to take a 2-point lead in the early going. The Vulcans quickly tied the set with back-to-back kills as there were three ties and three lead changes until the midway point of the set. Kendall Kott had a kill and then a pair of Penguin errors helped UHH take a 17-14 lead as they looked to pull away, but junior middle Edee Leslie halted their momentum. Junior defensive specialist Vanna Marquez followed up with an ace and Jimenez and senior Tiffany Wong combined for a block as Dominican quickly tied things up once again. The teams continued to trade points and the Penguins eventually regained a 22-21 lead after Wong found the floor on a kill and a pair of Vulcan errors to force a timeout. Junior middle Teddy Batinkova provided a kill off an overpass out of the timeout and then Pelton blocked an attack by Cruz to give Dominican set point. Ahid provided the set clinching kill two points later to tie the match at 1-1.

The third set began much like the second with the teams trading points in the early going until Jimenez powered a 4-0 burst with a block and a kill to give the Penguins the 13-9 lead. The Vulcans chipped away at the lead and tied the set at 15-15 on a kill from Cruz as the teams continued their seesaw battle. Leslie came out of the timeout to give Dominican back the momentum as she found the floor for back-to-back kills to retake a small lead. Batinkova then combined with Leslie for a block and then added a solo block before junior setter Gabi Maiocco served up an ace to extend the Penguin lead to 20-16 and force a UHH timeout. It was all the room Dominican would need to take the 25-19 set victory. 

Hoke gave the Vulcans some momentum in the fourth set as she served up three consecutive aces during a 9-1 run to take an 11-4 lead. Pelton led a quick 3-point run with back-to-back kills to get the Penguins back within five, but it was as close as they would get as the teams traded points the rest of the way sending the match to a fifth set.

UHH maintained its momentum in the fifth set opening on an 8-1 run led by a pair of aces and a kill from Cruz. Dominican was unable to recover as the Vulcans held on for the 15-5 set victory to take the match. 

The Penguins will continue its Hawaiian trip Friday as they take on Chaminade at 7 p.m. HT at McCabe Gym.