IRVINE, Calif. – Dominican women's volleyball fell 25-20, 25-12, 25-23 Saturday afternoon in the first game of a doubleheader with Concordia University Irvine at CU Arena. 

Junior middle Kiana Pelton led the Penguins with seven kills and five blocks, while senior Tiffany Wong added seven kills and nine digs. Kennedy Farley led the Eagles with 14 kills while teammate Brianna Latigue finished the match with 31 assists.

After a slow start helped CUI get out to an early 4-0 lead, freshman outside hitter Devon Condie put down back-to-back kills to power a 4-1 run that closed the gap to 5-4. The Eagles slowly rebuilt its lead and Julia Wilson served up an ace to give them the 15-10 lead at the midway point, but senior outside hitter Mariah Ahid gave Dominican back some momentum with back-to-back kills and senior setter Haley Frederking added a dump-set kill to close the gap back to two moments later. CUI answered with a 4-point run capped off by a block from Daniela Poles to gain the lead they needed to close out the 25-20 set victory.

The Eagles then took advantage of several Penguin errors early in the second set to build a quick 14-4 lead. Jnunior middle Edee Leslie helped settle Dominican as she found the floor on a kill and then added an ace during a 4-0 run that closed the deficit to six. Kirra Schulz and Poles powered the CUI attack from that point accounting for seven of the final nine points as the Eagles pulled away again for the 25-12 victory.

Hannah Tostado had a block and a kill to lead a 6-0 CUI run to open the third set to keep the momentum on their side of the court. Pelton provided the response for Dominican leading a 5-1 charge with a pair of kills to close the gap to two as Dominican continued to battle for every point. The Penguins continued their strong push behind the play of Wong who kept it close with three kills, before adding an ace with Pelton claiming a solo block and a kill to power a 5-0 run to take the 14-11 lead. After the Eagles had closed back to within one, Ahid combined with Leslie and Pelton on a triple block before putting down a kill to power a 3-point run that pushed the Dominican lead to 20-16. Kennedy Farley and Mackenzie Jensen each had a pair of kills to lift the Eagles on a 6-1 run to regain the 22-21 lead and force a Penguin timeout. Farley added a kill out of the timeout to give CUI the advantage it needed as they traded side-out points to secure the match victory.