Box Score

Photo Gallery (images by Austin McKeon)

San Francisco, CA -- The Urban Knights returned to Kezar Pavilion on Friday, and in doing so repeated a feat that they have already done twice this year, sweeping Dominican University in three straight sets, 25-16, 25-13, 25-19.

The Knights (7-13, 3-6 PWC) received a full team effort on Friday, with positive hitting percentages from all hitters, a great defensive effort from their back row, and a huge blocking night over the Lady Penguins.

"To me, defense controls the flow of the game. Defense wins games," said head coach Allison Magner. "You can tell when the energy is there. We talk a lot about the defense being the catalyst to the rest of the play. Whether it's a big block or an incredible dig, that brings energy to the rest of the play." 

Academy of Art had another double-digit game from Leinani Keanini, who racked up 11 kills to lead all hitters and also threw in seven digs and three service aces. Ka'ena Kaina had eight kills, middle blocker Amy Bush had four kills and three block solos, and the tandem combined for a total of 14 block assists.

In fact, the only players that weren't in the positive for the Knights were defensive specialist Nicolette Hagan, libero Midori Le, and Angela Heath; all of whom were still even at zero. Heath, who is usually among the top hitters, took a different approach on Friday and made her biggest contributions from the back row with 14 defensive digs to go with her five kills.

"We're encouraging our setters to run a more diverse offense," Coach Magner said. "That means getting all hitters going, so it's not always the same person. It's not about volume, but about quality attacks, so that's what we've been talking about. We saw that come alive tonight."

Even setter Melissa Cheng got in on the action, augmenting her 26 assists with four kills, a .444 hitting percentage, and really taking charge of the Urban Knights' offensive effort. Cheng's consistent play has lifted the Knights in recent games to both change up and focus their attacking strategy, and it has paid dividends.

Cheng has been integral to the changes that Magner has brought to the offense, and her presence in the lineup has brought both experience and even an extra attacker in some cases. Cheng, who at 5'10 is taller than most setters, is a different breed, and her unique qualities showcased themselves in the second set as she rose up for a "joust", or a ball that was hovering above the net, waiting only to be tipped one way or the other. Cheng went up against one of the Penguins' middle blockers, and completely stuffed her attack back to the Dominican side of the floor.

"Melissa is very physical at the net," Magner said about her setter. "She's not scared to be aggressive when it comes to the block or the attack. To have that mentality in a setter is tremendous."

Coach Magner said that she met with her setter Thursday night to talk about goals for Friday's game, and after some early miscommunications led to points for the Penguins, Cheng took the reins of her team and played a pivotal role leading them to victory. Her play was so impressive that the referee came up to the scorer's table after the second set and remarked "The ART U setter is on fire!" to the scorekeeper. 

"Being able to set up my teammates for kills is my highlight of the day," the setter said. "If they get to slam that ball, that's my excitement too. If I can dump, I'll take as many shots as I can get, but I'm all about getting my team the ball to win the game."

The Knights are now preparing to embark on their long trip to Hawaii, where they will play six matches in ten days, and have a chance to come back to California with a winning conference record. 

"The main word of the week was dedication," Cheng said. "We were determined not to snowball down at the end of the season and to keep picking each other up and keeping our heads up. We want to finish the season on a good note."