SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's volleyball battled hard but fell 25-22, 25-15, 25-16 to Azusa Pacific on Tuesday at the Conlan Center.
Gabi Maiocco led the Penguins with 21 assists, six digs and a solo block.
Ella Heckman continued to lead her team in kills with seven on the night while
Amani Abed collected a pair of solo blocks. Annaka Jorgenson led the Cougars with 15 kills and nine digs.
APU got off to a strong start as Jorgenson found the floor for her first two kills to lead a 4-point run that pushed its lead to 7-2. Dominican finally found its swings midway through the first set as
Jasmine Heyward hit through hands and Maiocco followed up with a solo block to get momentum headed back to the home team.
Avery Schneider capped the initial run with an ace to close the gap to 14-13.
Edee Leslie gave the Penguins the lead at 17-16 with a kill and Abed capped a 4-0 Dominican run with a block to extend the advantage to two. After the Cougars regained the 21-19 lead, Leslie and Schneider combined for a block to spark the Penguins on yet another 3-0 run with
Kendal Kibanoff capping the burst with a service ace to retake the 22-21 lead. APU finally put away the pesky Penguins with a 4-0 run to take the 1-0 lead in the match.
Ionna Georgatzi ended a 4-0 Cougar run with an ace to open an early lead for her team in the second set. Dominican battled to keep within two for several minutes until Kendyl Macaskill had a kill and a block to lead another 4-point charge that increased the lead two six at the midway point. The Cougars continued to slowly build on its lead on its way to the 25-15 victory.
Leslie led the Penguins early in the third set with a kill and an ace as the teams traded points early. Abed sparked another run with a solo block at the net and Heckman followed up with a kill to lift Dominican to the 11-10 lead. The set shifted quickly back to APU as Kaitlin Craig had a pair of kills and a block assist to lead it on a 9-1 run to build a commanding lead and it went on to seal the sweep with a 25-16 set victory.
Dominican will return to the court Thursday to take on Biola at 8 p.m. PDT at the Conlan Center.
