HILO, Hawaii—There is a mantra that might be a tad bit overused in the last few years that says "next man up".

With four players out with injuries and sitting the bench tonight for Hawaii Hilo, forgive head coach Gene Krieger if he needed to adjust that to "next woman up", and mean it.

Krieger certainly had players step up, but it wasn't quite enough tonight against a good Dominican team as UH Hilo fell at Vulcan Gymnasium to the Penguins, 21-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-19.

With the win, the Penguins gained a measure of revenge from a five-set loss to the Vulcans less than two weeks ago in San Rafael, Calif. Dominican improved to 5-5 in the Pacific West Conference and to 6-12 overall, while UH Hilo fell to 5-6 in conference play and they are now 8-10 overall.

The Vulcans were without two of their top three kill makers on the season—Siera Green and Lucee Fitzgerald, and also without one of their setters in their 6-2 offense, Sha Rae Niu. Additionally, back-up middle blocker Armani Moultrie was on the sideline in street clothes.

"We almost had more people out of uniform on the bench than in uniform," Krieger said after the match. "But I am pretty pleased overall, all things considered. I thought our effort was very good, and if we could have found a way to get the second set, things might have been different."

The home team did manage to capture the first set. Basia Sauni began the match with a pair of service aces and the Vulcans would only trail once in the set after that. Freshman Ashton Jessee stepped up with a robust five kills in five attempts, including the final three points of the set as UHH took the game, 25-21.

It was the Penguins who took the early lead in the second set and they would push that margin out to five points at 13-8. On Kaila Lizama's serve, UH Hilo rallied back to tie the game, and then took a 15-14 lead on a Jessee service ace. The two teams then traded blows, and the match was tied again at 21-21 after another Jessee kill. Dominican then took over, scoring four of the five final points to win the set 25-22. Two of the Penguin points came courtesy of freshman setter Josie Walser, who dumped a ball over the net and also fired in an ace, one of six that she had in the match.

The third set was a tense battle that featured numerous ties and lead changes. The match was knotted at 19-19 after an Amber Tai kill, but again the Penguins finished by taking six of the next eight points (25-21).

Dominican put the pedal down in the fourth set, racing out to a 5-0 lead on Walser's serve. Another Walser ace made it 17-10 and the Vulcans would get no closer than four points after that.

The Penguins finished with 10 team aces and also had 18 total blocks. That's usually a strength for the Vulcans, but tonight they only had four blocks.

Jessee finished with a career-high 16 kills and a .480 hitting percentage. The 6-3 middle blocker also had two aces. Fellow freshman Tai had a collegiate best 12 kills and 12 digs, while Evelin Solyomvari and Kiley Davis added 10 kills each. Sauni had a Vulcan career-best 50 assists and 12 digs. Mina Grant led the Vulcans with 14 digs.

Catherine Johnson, who closed the night with a kill, led her team with 14.

The Vulcans will continue their four-match home stand with Saturday night (7:30) encounter with Chaminade.