SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's volleyball went toe-to-toe with PacWest frontrunner Chaminade in its final match of the year but fell 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-23) Thursday night at the Conlan Center.

Jasmine Heyward led the Penguins with six kills, four aces, nine digs and a solo block, while Ella Heckman finished with nine kills and two blocks. Edee Leslie finished with an efficient eight kills on a .467 hitting percentage. Ajack Malual led the Silverswords with 10 kills and a block while Alexia Byrnes finished with 25 assists and four aces.

Chaminade slowly built a 3-point advantage but Gabi Maiocco helped quickly reverse that with a dump for a kill and a service ace to power a 4-0 run and give Dominican the 8-7 lead. Maiocco led another 3-0 run as she moved the ball around to Avery Schneider and Heyward for kills before getting her second kill on a well place ball to take the 16-12 lead. The Penguins continued to hold the lead until a Byrnes found the floor on three aces to spark the Silverswords on a 8-0 run that put them ahead 23-19. Dominican tried to claw their way back into it but Lataisia Saulala had a powerful kill to give Chaminade the 25-22 victory.

Dominican started strong in the second set as Heckman put down back-to-back kills to take the 3-0 lead early. The Silverswords battled back as Malual ended a 5-0 run with a pair of kills to take the 9-6 lead. Chaminade found its groove in the set as another 5-point burst increaded their lead to nine late and it was able to trade points to the 2-0 lead in the match.

Saulala helped Chaminade open a 9-5 lead in the third as she collected a block assist before finding the floor for a kill. Dominican though continued to show its fight as Heyward followed up a kill from Leslie with a pair of aces to close the deficit back to one. Chaminade was able to open some breathing room once again with Brooklen Pe'a getting a solo block and a kill from the middle to spark a 7-1 run to make it 18-11 in her team's favor. The Silverswords relaxed and the Penguins swooped into action as Heyward once again had a pair of aces sparking an 8-2 run that closed the gap to 23-22. Chaminade was able to trade side out points to just hold on for the sweep.