OAKLAND, Calif. – Dominican women's volleyball fell 25-22, 25-13, 25-21 Wednesday night to Holy Names University at Tobin Gymnasium. 

The Penguins (2-3, 2-3 PacWest) were unable to find the hitting strokes that had propelled them to victory against Fresno Pacific hitting .051 on the night. Junior defensive specialist Tiffany Wong led the way on the back row with 10 digs, while senior setter Rebecca Smith added 13 assists and eight digs for Dominican. The Hawks (4-1, 4-1 PacWest) finished with a .211 hitting percentage with Lauren Sera leading the way with 10 kills and three aces.

Both teams struggled to find their offensive swings to start the game with both taking advantage for small 3-point bursts to begin the match. After three ties and two lead changes in the first 10 points, sophomore middle blocker Kiana Pelton led a 7-1 run with two kills and a block assist to put the Penguins ahead 16-11. Dominican continued to maintain a slim lead at 22-18 near the end of the set, but Sera bookended a 7-0 Hawk run with a pair of kills to close the set for the 1-0 lead in the match.

HNU rode the momentum into the second set as Jasmine Yun spread the ball around to the Hawk hitters to power an 8-1 run to begin the set. The Penguins were unable to recover and the lead grew to as many as 13 after a block by HNU's Lille Tuivailala and Sierra Allen on their way to the 25-13 set two victory.

Dominican changed their lineup in the third set with freshman outside hitter Amani Abed providing a spark early with a kill and a block assist to put the Penguins ahead by three. Freshman outside hitter Taylor Williams then started another 3-point burst with Pelton putting down a kill from the middle to end the run and extend the lead to 9-4. Sera took control for the Hawks with three kills during a 5-0 run that tied the set at 10-10. After trading points freshman opposite Emma Hartvickson combined with freshman middle blocker Sydney Thompson for a block and Hartvickson followed with a kill to extend the lead to a narrow 16-12 advantage. The Hawks then went on a 7-1 run with three different players recording kills to take the 19-17 lead. Senior outside hitter Catherine Johnson put down back-to-back kills for the Penguins to respond as they retook the 20-19 lead, but HNU closed on a 6-1 run to take the match victory.

Dominican will head to Angwin to face Pacific Union College on Sunday at 5 p.m. PDT.