SAN FRANCISCO – Dominican women's volleyball struggled to find its rhythm as it fell 25-16, 25-11, 25-9 Saturday morning to Cal State Monterey Bay before dropping a 25-12, 25-17, 25-12 match to San Francisco State in the Gator/Seawolf Classic at the Swamp.
 
Game One
Mariah Ahid led the Penguins (0-9) with five kills, but everything seemed to go right for the Otters (5-2) as they finished the match with a .451 hitting percentage. Jenna Tobin led three CSUMB players in double digit kills with 11 to go with 10 digs and four service aces. Sophia Torres added 36 assists and three service aces for the Otters.
 
Dominican got off to a strong start to its first match led by two kills and a block from Teddy Batinkova in a 4-0 run, but CSUMB recorded the next 10 points in response. The Penguins battled back with Ella Jimenez providing the spark with a kill and a block from her position in the middle to cut the deficit to one. Things remained close until Abby Knapp helped cap off a 9-1 run with three kills to take the 25-16 victory in the first set.
 
After trading points in the opening minutes of the second set, Tobin had two kills to lead the Otters on a 5-1 run to take a 13-7 lead. They continued to extend their lead as Molin Helfrich ended the set with a kill. CSUMB then opened the final set on a 13-1 run and never looked back on their way to the sweep.
 
Game Two
Amani Abed and Jimenez led the Penguins in the second match with five kills each, while Jimenez added two aces and two blocks. The Gators (7-0) finished with a .468 hitting percentage as Jessica Haynie collected 13 kills.
 
San Francisco State started strong with a 5-1 run to jump ahead early and Haynie had two kills and an ace moments later to lead a 9-1 run to extend the lead to 11. Dominican was unable to get the lead back to single digits as the Gators took the first set.
 
Haynie once again helped San Francisco State out to an early 6-2 lead with two kills. After the Gators extended the lead to 11, Kiana Pelton sparked the Penguins with back-to-back kills and Jimenez then served up two aces as a 5-0 run cut the lead to six. The run came too late as Marlena Billings and Drew Morris each recorded kills to end the set. The Gators then closed out the third set strong leading the entire way to remain undefeated.
 
Dominican will begin Pacific West Conference play Friday against Concordia University Irvine at 7 p.m. PDT at the Conlan Center.