– At McCabe Gym in front of a state-wide television audience on OC-16, The Urban Knights dropped their third match in a row to the HPU Sea Warriors, 3-2 (25-20, 13-25, 25-20, 23-25, 15-13).
The Sea Warriors, winners of eight of their last nine matches, struck first with a game one win. With the game tied at 16-16, HPU ran off three straight points aided by a Julia Gruszecka (15 K) kill. The Urban Knights rallied to tie the match at 19-19, but HPU broke away for the five-point win.
Game two saw a complete turnaround as AAU evened the match at 1-1. They grabbed an early 8-1 advantage and cruised to the 12-point win.
HPU rallied and regained the lead after three games. Though slim at times, HPU lead nearly the entire game and looked prime to finish the match in game four. Three kills by Kelly Balanay (10 K) late in the game gave HPU the win.
Before HPU would show their muscle, AAU had a few tricks up their sleeve in game four. Down 15-5, the Urban Knights rallied to eventually tie the game at 20-20 on an Alexandra Leja (3 K) kill. Ridding the momentum that had carried them to that point, AAU snatched the comeback game four win 25-23. The stage was set for a fifth and deciding game.
Having just staved off defeat, AAU jumped out to an early 5-1 advantage on kills by Dan Yang, who finished the match with 15 kills and 15 digs. Kills by Balanay and Antje Buskies (9 K) rallied HPU but they again found themselves trailing, this time at 11-5. Showing their newfound resolve and composure, HPU rallied to tie the game at 11-11. After Natasha Bell ripped her 13th kill of the match, Jelena Jakovljevic hit her attack into the net to give HPU the narrow win.
The Urban Knights round out their Hawaii trip on Saturday Nov. 1 when they take on BYU-Hawaii. They hope to make the trip a somewhat success by coming home 1-3.
