SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's volleyball fell 25-13, 25-16, 25-16 Monday night to Azusa Pacific at the Conlan Center.
Senior
Tiffany Wong led the Penguins (1-21, 1-12 PacWest) with nine kills and seven digs. Freshman outside hitter
Devon Condie and senior outside hitter
Mariah Ahid each had five kills. Annaka Jorgenson led the Cougars (14-4, 9-1 PacWest) with a double-double of 12 kills and 12 digs.
Kyra Palmbush sparked Azusa Pacific early with back-to-back kills as it took the 6-3 lead on a 4-0 run. The Cougars continued to extend its lead as Katarina Radisic had a pair of kills in a 3-point burst to make it 13-5 near the midway point of the set. After trading points for the next several minutes, the APU block came through to propel a 4-0 run to end the set in a 25-13 victory.
Palmbush again led the early charge by the Cougars with back-to-back kills to start an 8-0 run before capping it with her third kill to take the 13-5 lead.
Mariah Ahid put a ball down the line to end the momentum as the Penguin defense began to frustrate APU and they committed several errors pressing to find a free space on the court as its lead was cut in half. Ahid found the floor on back-to-back kills to help Dominican cut the lead to 16-13 as Dominican continued to ride their momentum. Maggie Nelson finally ended the Penguins' momentum with an ace to increase the lead to four and Jorgensen added a pair of kills as they pulled away down the stretch for the 2-0 lead in the match.
The Cougars continued to ride their momentum from the second set as Jaela Bernard had a pair of kills to power a 6-1 run to open the third set. Dominican continued to show heart as
Sophia Hull capped a 3-0 run with an ace to close the gap to two at 7-5. After trading points back-and-forth through the midway point of the set, several Penguin errors helped APU gain separation on a 4-0 run to make it 18-12. It was all the room the Cougars needed to close out the sweep.
Dominican will retake the court against Biola Thursday in a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. PDT at Chase Gymnasium.