AZUSA, Calif. – Dominican women's volleyball fell 25-16, 25-7, 25-22 Friday night to Azusa Pacific at Felix Events Center.

Junior opposite Teddy Batinkova led the Penguins (0-11, 0-2 PacWest) with seven kills on a .278 hitting percentage. Senior defensive specialist Tiffany Wong added two kills and 13 digs for Dominican. Delaney Dunham led the Cougars (9-3, 4-0 PacWest) with eight kills on a .500 hitting percentage.

Azusa Pacific quickly jumped ahead in the first set with the first three points of the match and extended its lead to six when Annaka Jorgensen capped a 4-0 run with a kill to make it 11-5. The Penguins quickly responded with a 3-0 run capped by a solo block from junior middle hitter Edee Leslie. Leslie added a pair of kills to close the gap to two moments later at 12-10, but the Cougars made use of unforced errors to extend their lead back to five at the midway point of the set. APU never let the Penguins get closer than four the rest of the set as they took the 1-0 lead in the match.

The Cougars rode the momentum into the second set as Katarina Radisic sparked an early 9-0 run with a kill and an ace. The Penguins were unable to regain their footing after the run, committing 11 errors in the set as they fell behind 2-0 in sets. 

Things looked to follow a similar pattern in the third set, but Leslie found the floor on a kill and added an ace in a 6-1 run that tied the set 8-8 early. The Cougars slowly rebuilt a four-point cushion, but the pesky Penguins battled back once again behind a kill and a block from Leslie to make it 15-14. The teams traded points and Dominican tied the set twice in the final moments of the match, but kills from Dunham and Ioanna Georgatzi gave APU the small lead they needed to take the set 25-22.

Dominican will return home Monday to face the University of Hawaii at Hilo at 7 p.m. PDT at the Conlan Center.