Dominican University of California Athletics

SEASIDE, Calif.- Dominican women's volleyball collected their first victory of the season Saturday afternoon in the CSU Monterey Bay Otter Invitational. The Penguins opened Saturday playing in the first match of the day against Sioux Falls, and then wrapped up the tournament picking up the dub against the host Otters. The black and gold will be back in action next week as they compete in the Redwood Coast Volleyball Classic starting Sep.3^rd against Nebraska Kearney at 6 p.m.

SIOUX FALLS 3, DUC 1

Junior Kali Young led the offensive charge in this one for the Penguins. The South Carolina native gave Sioux Falls fits all day as she slammed home a game high 14 kills. Kalaya Phung, the freshman out of Hercules was right behind Young posting nine kills.

Fellow junior Melena Wong was spreading the love for Dominican in this one as she dished out a team high 19 assists, while freshman Bella Vertudez was second on the team collecting 16.

DUC 3, CSUMB 2

The host Otters would start this match strong as they jumped out to a 2-0 set advantage, but Penguins never back down. Dominican's offense was led by Alexis Schwartz who came down with a team high 18 kills to go along with nine digs. Young who had a strong first match continued to stay hot Saturday as she was right behind Schwartz swatting down 11.

Junior Jazzlyn Zendejas was a menace up front for the Pengs as she brought down a game high five blocks while Young posted four. The black and gold had the edge in the blocks department against the Otters nine to four. Sophia Bernabe and Chloe Cruz gave the Otters fits throughout the match as they were everywhere on the court with Bernabe digging out a game high 18 digs and Cruz dishing out 19 assists.

The Pengs would lean on their defense in the third set to get the victory as Zendejas and Young came down with a block to extend their lead to four late in the set. Dominican would then continue that recipe in the fourth set as they locked up the set with back-to-back blocks from Young and senior Ashlyn Daugherty.

The last set would be a true nail biter as both teams traded points early on. With the set tied at 10, Schwartz would find that extra fuel and take over as she slammed down three kills in a row. Vertudez would clinch the victory for the Pengs as she forced an attack error on the Otters. Schwartz was named to the All-Tournament team as she finished with 28 kills and 32 digs.