SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's volleyball lost a tight battle with Fresno Pacific 3-1 (25-16, 25-17, 26-28, 25-21) Saturday afternoon at the Conlan Center.
Ella Heckman led the Penguins with her first career double-double of 14 kills and 10 digs.
Gabi Maiocco finished with 21 assists and 10 digs missing part of the match with an injury while
Edee Leslie came off the bench to set for her and finished with eight assists and two blocks. Makena Ogas led the Sunbirds with 14 kills and 19 digs.
After Fresno Pacific grabbed an early lead,
Avery Schneider sparked a 3-point Penguin run with a kill to take a small lead, but a trio of errors gave the lead back to the Sunbirds. FPU then pulled ahead 13-8 on a 5-point run and held on for the rest of the set for the 1-0 lead in the match.
Corinne Acosta sparked the Sunbirds early in the second set as she found the floor on a kill before combining with Chloe Melis for a block to begin a 5-0 run. Heckman combined with Schneider for a block to halt the momentum and
Jasmine Heyward had a powerful swing for the kill to make it 7-5, but errors helped propel the Sunbirds on a 5-0 run to extend the lead to seven. The teams began to mostly trade points for the remainder of the set as FPU held on for a 25-17 lead.
The Penguins would not be so easily dissuaded in the match as the team gathered for a lengthy meeting before the third set and came out ready to play. Heckman had a pair of kills to sandwhich a block from
Avery Maddox and Abed to open the set on a 3-0 run. After the Sunbirds answered to tie the set, Maddox and Abed once again combined for a block to start another 3-point run to remain in the lead. FPU slowly chipped away at the lead tying the set 10-10, but Abed led a 4-0 Dominican run with a pair of kills from the middle with Leslie serving up an ace to retake the lead. As the Sunbirds tried to get closer, the Penguins continued to answer with small runs to maintain their narrow advantage until back-to-back kills from Acosta gave FPU the 21-20 advantage. The teams traded points until Abed followed up a Sunbird error with a kill to get to set point at 25-24, but consecutive points gave FPU its second match point. Dominican called a timeout to disrupt the server as a service error leveled the score once again and
Vanna Marquez served up an ace to regain set point for the Penguins. Marquez stepped to the line and placed a ball just past the net giving Madison Girnius no margin of error as the reception ended up right back into the net for the set clinching ace.
The teams opened the fourth set each with a small run, but FPU utilized a 7-0 run to gain a 13-7 lead. Just when it seemed the Sunbirds had things in hand, Schneider found the floor for a kill and Leslie followed with one of her own to regain some momentum. Schneider assisted on a block before finding the floor for another kill to cap off a remarkable contribution to the 5-1 run that closed the Penguin deficit to 18-16. They kept things close with prolonged rallies over the next several minutes, but FPU did just enough to hang onto its lead and take the set 25-21.
Dominican will return to the court Tuesday to face Azusa Pacific at 6 p.m. PDT at the Conlan Center.
