Box Score

Photo Gallery (images by Meg Williams)

SAN RAFAEL, CA -- A week ago, the Academy of Art women's volleyball team dispatched Dominican in three straight sets. The Urban Knights (5-6, 2-0 PWC) rolled through the Lady Penguins at Kezar Pavilion and didn't seem to think twice about it. When they visited San Rafael on Saturday, it seemed that the host Penguins weren't interested in being swept for a second time in seven days. 

The Penguins had revenge on their minds, but the Urban Knights were in no mood to indulge their PacWest foes, taking them down again in three straight sets 25-17, 25-23, 25-12. Dominican was playing with some more fire in front of their home crowd, but Academy of Art was determined to remain one of the two undefeated teams atop the conference standings, and they shook off the rust of a couple days off to emerge victorious.

"A win is a win," said Urban Knights Head Coach Allison Magner. "I think we could have played a little more consistently. However, for us to push through those first two sets and then crush at the end was quite satisfying."

Errors in the first set kept it close for a while, with neither team pulling away at all until the Urban Knights went on a 5-0 run that put them up 11-7, forcing a Dominican timeout. The Penguins (0-10, 0-2 PWC)  brought it close again at 16-11, but ART U took advantage of three service errors before Angela Heath sealed the first game for the Knights at 25-17. 

Ria Falealili sparked Dominican to a 5-1 lead in the second set, but a rally by the Knights tied the game at 5-5. The Penguins responded with a rally of their own, including two kills by Falealili, to take a 9-5 lead. Dominican led for a majority of the game, and a Jessica Jones kill put them up 21-19. ART U's Leinani Keanini, who had seven kills on the match, had a huge kill to put the Knights down by one, and a bad set by Sarah Bain tied the game up at 21-21. 

Dominican freshman middle blocker Samantha Rains dumped one over the Academy of Art defense to put the Penguins up 23-22, but that was all they would get. With Ashlee Sand serving for Dominican, Keanini set up Heath in back-to-back plays for the kill, and after Penguins coach Gayle Stammer took her final timeout, Heath blocked a kill attempt by Falealili to end the match in the Urban Knights' favor.

The Knights responded like they had in the third set last week, quickly building a 10-2 lead, with Ka'ena Kaina's second kill of the day forcing a Dominican timeout. The Penguins brought it as close as 10-3, but it was all Urban Knights the rest of the way. Another run made it 13-3. Minutes later it was an ace by Kawai Oleole that made it 16-5, and then a kill by Mykal "Myke" Vailu'u made it 20-7 and Dominican took their last timeout of the day. It was to no avail, and Angela Heath notched her third set-ending point and team-leading 12th kill to also end the match.

"The only thing I saw different from last week is that we were a little slow," said Coach Magner. "The youth came out a little bit. The youth as a whole, as a team, in our team chemistry. We need to know how to execute, execute, execute, and to keep that consistency. We were just battling with that a little bit."

Part of that battle was finding someone to keep the energy level up. After a see-saw first set, falling behind in the second set was not exactly how coach Allison Magner drew it up. After the break, the coach started a different lineup for the third set, inserting Kaina into the front row after her solid play in the second. That lineup saw the Penguins only total one kill in the final set.

"Ka'ena always provides a little spark," Magner said. "She's always very inspirational. She plays an upbeat, high-tempo, loud game. We just needed something a little bit different. It's great to know that we can look at the bench and bring anybody in to give us what we need."

What the Knights needed was more Angela Heath, who dominated the box score and the Penguins. Heath led the team in kills (12) and only had two errors, good for a .476 hitting percentage. She also added seven digs and five total blocks. Vailu'u added eight kills, while Oleole led ART U in assists (31) and digs (9). 

Oleole earned her second straight selection to the PacWest Weekly Top Ten Honor Roll last week, and along with Camille Board and Amy Bush proved that they were worthy of the award. Board had six kills and one total block, and Bush had a .571 hitting percentage on five kills and two total blocks to round out the box score for the Knights. 

Academy of Art will return to the court Tuesday, Sept. 27 for a non-conference match across the bay at Holy Names. The Knights and Hawks are set to begin at 7:00 PM inside Tobin Gymnasium.