IRVINE, Calif. – Following a five-set thriller the previous night, Concordia women's volleyball team rebounded with a 3-1 victory over Dominican on Saturday evening.
 
Freshman Patience O'Neal notched her ninth match of double-digit kills after putting down 15 against the Penguins. Riley Gill collected a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs along with Ailsa Watson who had 26 assists and 12 digs. Also, in double-figures was Jordan Mineer with 11 kills and hit .385.
 
Concordia got off to a hot start in the first set after Mineer collected a kill and teamed up with Hannah Tostado for a block to make the score 5-2. An 8-2 run forced a Dominican timeout after tough serving from Tostado and Jaclyn Brown brought the score to 16-7. A trio of Penguin points brought DUC within six, but Concordia responded with kills from O'Neal and Brown and a Brianna Latigue ace to put the Eagles up by 11. Rounding out the set was a 4-0 run that concluded with back-to-back Brown aces to give CUI a 25-12 victory.
 
Dominican started out with their first lead of the night to open up the second set with a 5-3 lead. Concordia went on a run to then advance to an 11-8 lead after an ace from Gill and a kill from O'Neal. The two sparked the same plays for a lead later at 20-15. Two kills from O'Neal contributed to a 4-0 run that gave CUI set point 24-18. The Penguins hung in there as they fought off three set points, but a Brown kill to the corner sealed the set at 25-21.
 
Momentum then switched to the Penguins where they started out 5-0 in the third and forcing a CUI timeout. Four different Eagles contributed points to bring them within two at 10-8. At 17-12, Concordia turned on the switch to ignite an 8-1 run and gain their first lead of the set at 19-20. The Penguins stopped the run and started one of their own only for them to close out the set 25-22.
 
Looking to close out the match, Concordia got out to a 6-1 advantage after multiple Dominican hitting errors. The Penguins rebounded and moved ahead 7-6, but the Eagles took the lead right back at 10-7. A streak of Dominican errors and Latigue aces put CUI closer towards the finish line at 16-10. Dominican would then put a late scare in the Eagles as they crept within four, but a 3-0 run courtesy of a Tostado solo block and two Brown kills ended the set and match for a Concordia win.
 
With this victory, Concordia is now 7-12 overall and rises to 6-5 in conference. The Eagles will travel to the Hawai'i schools over fall break and take on Chaminade on October 11^th at 10:00 p.m. PT.