MATCH ONE
 
SAN RAFAEL, CALIF. — Dominican found itself opposite of California State University Monterey Bay in its Friday introductory matchup, a match that would see the Penguins losing in straight sets (25-20, 25-14, 25-18).
 
Senior Haley Frederking delivered on the opening play of the dual to give Dominican the first tally of the afternoon, also marking the only time the Penguins had the lead on the afternoon. Three straight points by CSUSM gave the Cougars a two-point lead before a pair of Penguin points brought the set back even.
 
After trading mini-runs until the midway point of the set, a Dominican attack error gave CSUSM a three-point lead, a lead that proved large enough for the Cougars to earn the first set 25-20.
 
Set two started with a pair of Cougar tallies courtesy of kills by Kelsy Rsmussen and Kassy Doeirng. A CSUSM service ace gave Dominican its first point of the middle frame, before a kill by senior Mariah Ahid and a Cougar handling error brought the set back even at 4-4. The two teams traded single points before a six-point run gave CSUSM a 6-pont lead, seeing the score read 11-6.
 
Another Ahid kill erased the Cougar before CSUSM committed another attack error, giving Dominican consecutive points. The Cougars would enjoy a pattern of matching each Penguin point with two or three points of their own, eventually expanding their lead to a set-high 10 points, leading 22-12. Senior Tiffany Wong etched her name under the kill column on the scoresheet before the end of the middle stanza as the Cougars earned themselves a 2-0 set lead.
 
CSUSM leaped out to an early 5-0 lead in what would prove to be the final set of the match, with freshman Ella Jiminez collapsing the run with a kill. Senior Teddy Batkinova earned herself a kill to bring the score to 9-3 later in the set, but another plethora of mini-runs widened the Cougar lead, earning them a 22-10 advantage.
 
The Penguins game themselves hope in the final stages of the match, a charge that was led by an Edee Leslie and Jiminez block party at the net. Senior Samantha Brown notched a service ace while Wong etched another kill tally under her name on the scoresheet, giving CSUSM its smallest advantage of the set, leading 23-28. Back-to-back Cougar points would put a stoppage to the Penguin run, also giving the Cougars its first win of the weekend.
 
Frederking led all Penguins in the assist column with nine, with junior Gabi Maiocco tallying eight assists of her own. Brown finished the match with nine digs, while Leslie earned six blocks and Jiminez notched six kills.
 
MATCH TWO
 
Dominican was handed its second loss of the day, this time at the hands of Stanislaus State as the Warriors walked out of the Conlan Center with a 3-0 win on Saturday night (25-10, 25-11. 25-21).
 
Ahid tallied her first kill of the match early in the first set after Dominican dropped the first two points, but the Warriors piled on runs to give them a decisive victory in the opening frame. Jiminez and Leslie each earned single kills in the first set to join Ahid on the scoresheet while Dominican also enjoyed points from Warriors service and attack errors before dropping the set 25-10.
 
The second set was played similarly to the first set, with Stanislaus State earning large runs that eventually combined to earn them a lop-sided 25-11 middle-set win. Junior Teddy Batinkova tallied offensive and defensive stats in the middle frame, earning a pair of blocks while also notching a pair of kills, with Ahid also building on her kill total from the first frame.
 
Jiminez and Ahid brought the power early in the final set, giving Dominican a quick 2-0 lead as the squad looked to gain momentum. Senior Kiana Pelton earned back-to-back kills for the Penguins as they built themselves a 3-point lead (5-2) before Jiminez and Frederking came together for a Dominican block, succeeded by kills from the hands of Batinkova and Wong to give Dominican a 9-4 advantage.
 
The two foes battled as Dominican clenched its lead, leading by no more than three points over the ensuing minutes. The Warriors regained their advantage just past the midway point of the set, earning the tie-breaking point when Macky Morris sent a kill of arms of a Dominican defender. This lead would never be erased as Stanislaus waltzed to a 3-0 victory, handing Dominican its fourth loss of the weekend.
 
Frederking boasted an impressive game-high 18-assist match, while Jiminez and Batkinova saw themselves finish the dual with seven and six kills, respectively.
 
Dominican will now regroup and recuperate before travelling to Rohnert Park to take on Sonoma State on Friday, Sept. 10.