SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Academy of Art Volleyball took a tough loss to Dominican 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-17) inside the Penguins' Conlan Center on Saturday night.

After getting ahead 8-2 to start, Dominican extended its advantage to 15-6 before ART U began to rally back. Freshman outside hitter Kimiah Johnson keyed the 6-1 run with her third block solo of the year and later back-to-back kills. Short scoring bursts helped Academy of Art come as close as three points on a kill by redshirt junior middle blocker Safua Elisaia to make it 23-20, but a service error and Penguin service ace finished off the 25-20 win for the home team.

Tightly-contested early, the second set saw a slight separation when Dominican went on a 3-0 run to get up 18-15. Consecutive kills by Eleni Loizou worked to eventually double that margin to six at 23-18 and ultimately the Penguins prevailed 25-19.

In the third set, a 15-6 margin was established by Dominican, but the final score would be far closer due to a late run from the Knights. Senior middle blocker Margaret Winkler sparked it with a kill and, an 8-1 surge later, Academy of Art trailed only by four 21-17. Unfortunately for the visitors, the Penguins rattled off the final four points and finished the sweep with a 25-17 set victory.

On the year, ART U is now 5-16 overall and 2-12 in PacWest play. Senior outside hitter Bailey Soolsma led the way with seven kills, junior setter Alana Lucas finished with 16 assists, and sophomore setter Lilika Teu tallied 10 digs.

The win puts Dominican's record at 9-12 overall and 8-5 in conference. Aimee Steinwand offered a match-high 12 kills while Josie Walser contributed 28 assists for the Penguins.

The Urban Knights return to San Francisco for four of their final five matches, beginning with a pair hosting Notre Dame de Namur (Nov. 7) and Chaminade (Nov. 9).