SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - Fresno Pacific completed a season sweep of Dominican on Tuesday, defeating the Penguins in straight sets behind 12 kills apiece from
Rupia Inck and
Morghan Williams. Williams hit .462 with no errors on the night while Inck committed just one error and hit .440 to lead a balanced attack.
"We were a lot more efficient than we were in last week's match," said head coach
Kelly Winter. The Sunbirds needed five sets to defeat Dominican at home last week. "[Dominican] had some weapons back that they didn't have last match, but we really raised our level of play and showed a big improvement all around. We passed really well all night and that was the difference in the match."
Hannah Butler and
Gabriela Macedo finished with 11 digs apiece for the Sunbirds, who improved to 20-7, 14-4 in PacWest play..
Sarah McCann and
Bissie DenHartog combined for 40 assists, while
Kathleen Anderson had nine kills and seven blocks.
Samantha Rains had eight kills and hit .500 to lead the Penguins (6-21, 4-15 PacWest).
FPU hit .248 on the night, including .323 in set three, while holding the Penguins to .117 hitting overall.
The Sunbirds return home for the final two matches of the regular season, beginning with Cal Baptist on Friday night at 7 pm. The Lancers swept FPU back in September during the first weekend of PacWest matches.
"That was a rough road trip with our first weekend of conference games and we just weren't clicking," said Winter. "Since then we've changed our lineup, made quite a few adjustments and are playing much better volleyball. It's going to be a battle, they have a lot of size and athleticism, but we're ready to go and are very confident in our ability to finish the season strong."
FPU needs to win each of its final two matches to qualify for the NCCAA National Tournament. A loss in either match would eliminate the team from playoff contention.
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