ATHERTON, Calif. – Dominican women's volleyball fell 3-0 Saturday afternoon to Menlo at Haynes-Prim Pavilion.
 
Ashlyn Daugherty led the Penguins (1-15, 0-3 PacWest) with eight kills and three blocks, while Alexis Schwartz added team highs of nine kills and 10 digs. Maya Saole-Su'e had a match best 12 kills for the Oaks (5-10, 2-3 PacWest) with Fuka Kikuchi finished with 11 kills.
 
Kikuchi had a pair of early kills to lead Menlo on a set opening 5-1 run to take the lead. After back-to-back Dominican kills cut the lead in half, Penguin errors powered a 6-point run that pushed the lead to eight. Daugherty ended the run with a kill from the middle and Cierra Ray placed a ball perfectly into an empty space in the middle of the court off a broken play to keep the 5-1 run going and help Dominican cut its deficit to 12-8. It was all Menlo from there as a 10-2 run built an 11-point lead they would not relinquish.
 
The Oaks once again got off to a strong start Janet Moala and Jolianna Salazar combined for a pair of blocks to take a 4-1 lead. Daugherty again provided the spark with a kill before combining with Braenwynne Matthews for a block to tie the set 5-5. After a Kikuchi kill, Daugherty again found the floor on a kill and then added an ace to cap the 5-1 run and give the Penguins a 7-6 lead. After trading points to an 11-11 tie, Kikuchi delivered up a kill and Salazar combined with Saole-Su'e for a block to power a 6-1 run to help Menlo take a 17-12 lead. The Oaks continued to add to its lead down the stretch as they took the set and the 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The teams traded points and small runs to begin the third set until several Dominican errors helped Menlo to a 5-1 run and a 10-7 lead. The Penguins cleaned up the errors and Daugherty and Ray found the court for back-to-back kills to regain some momentum. Ray combined with Schneider for a block to cap the 4-1 run that tied the set 11-11. Saole-Su'e and Kikuchi found a groove on the attack from there combining for six kills in a 7-1 run to give Menlo a six point lead. The Penguins showed some fight as Schwartz put down a pair of kills to power a 5-1 run that closed the gap to 21-18. Daugherty then provided the spark on a 4-1 run with a kill, a block and an assist to close the gap to one, but Janet Moala ended the run with a kill to get to match point and Saole-Su'e found the floor for the final kill of the match.
 
Dominican will continue its road trip as it heads to Southern California to face Concordia University Irvine on Thursday at 6 p.m. PDT at CU Arena.