HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University made it two in a row with a second straight sets victory on Saturday night, sweeping Dominican 3-0 in PacWest Conference action at The Shark Tank.
 
The Sharks (4-14, 3-7) dropped the Penguins (1-17, 1-8) 27-25, 25-22, 27-25 and never trailed by more than two points in the contest.
 
HPU as a team hit .139 with 6.0 team blocks in the three-setter while the Penguins swung just under at .138 with 10.0 team blocks.
 
Sophomore Ella Dotson of Tucson, Ariz./Marana had another solid night with 15 kills and a .196 average to go alongside 19 digs on the night. Junior Demi Winters of Gresham, Ore./Barlow added nine kills with a block and a .429 hitting percentage. Senior Nicole Ferris of Woodstock, Ga./Etowah also tallied 9 kills and two blocks while senior Kirah Boynton-Brown of Vancouver, Wash./Union picked up 5 total blocks including a solo.
 
The Penguins' Mariah Ahid and Devon Condie set the pace with 12 and 10 kills respectively and Kiana Pelton holding down the net with four blocks.
 
HPU and DUC battled tough through the opening set with nobody pulling away until a 6-1 run at 9-8 started by back-to-back kills from Boynton-Brown and Winters and two more from freshman Katrina Gatewood of Cerritos, Calif./Cypress. The Penguins were able to battle it back to an even 24-24 and two errors sealed the fate for Dominican at 27-25 Sharks.
 
HPU pulled far ahead in set two with a 13-5 lead after two service aces from sophomore Makayla Warthan of Modesto, Calif./Beyer. The two teams traded back and forth until 24-20 with a last ditch effort by DUC that was shut down with the set ending blow coming from Boynton-Brown.
 
The final set started much the same as the first with a tie score at 12-12 and no team taking a commanding position. That ended quickly with an 8-1 Shark attack bringing it to what seemed like an easy finish at 21-13. However, the Penguins were not done yet. They retaliated with their own 8-1 run tying the game at 22-22. Leads changed twice but the Sharks sealed the deal with a kill from senior Lauren Christie of Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon and a final Penguin attack error.
 
The Sharks will stay in Hawai'i for a PacWest matchup against Chaminade next Wednesday, October 20th before heading to Southern California. The first serve is slotted for 7:00 p.m. at McCabe Gym.