Box Score

San Francisco, CA -- The Academy of Art University women's volleyball team held late leads in each of its first three sets on Thursday night, but Hawaii Pacific managed to hold on for a 3-1 victory (25-22, 25-22, 24-26, 25-18). Facing set point in the third set, ART U rallied back with a 4-0 run to deny the sweep though HPU eventually answered back in the fourth frame. Rachael Smith amassed 51 assists while Lindsay Elgin and Angela Heath each had 13 kills apiece to pace the Urban Knights.

"We did a great job of getting in positions to win sets and were ahead in a lot of tonight's sets," head coach Ed Jackson said. "Unfortunately, Hawaii Pacific did a great job of fighting back and we just made too many errors at the end. That was the big difference-maker for us: getting points when we needed them at the end of sets."

The Urban Knights played well against the Sea Warriors in all four sets, and the first set really set the tone. The opener saw nine ties, and neither team built a lead larger than two points until the final whistle. The Knights battled back every time HPU took any inkling of a lead, eventually taking a 16-14 lead on a kill from Lindsay Elgin. ART U tied it up again at 19-19, and had it within reach but the Sea Warriors topped the Knights with a 4-1 run at the end to win the set.

The competitiveness and closeness of the match continues in the second set, as the Knights and Sea Warriors tied thirteen times in the second set. The two teams traded points back and forth with the Knights taking the lead late on back-to-back points on a kill from Angela Heath and an error by Kasey Thompson to make the score 21-19. But Hawai'i Pacific recaptured the lead out of a timeout and ended up going on a 6-1 run and winning the set to go up 2-0.

The Knights ability to keep the game close finally paid off in the third set, as it started out very similarly to the first two sets, with both teams taking turns holding the lead. HPU used a kill by Christina Furrer to go up 14-12, but then the Knights got back, using two errors and a kill from Heath to take a 17-16 advantage. Heath had two more kills to make it 18-17 and 19-18, and facing set point in the third, the Knights forced three straight errors to take the third set 26-24.

In the fourth set was the first time either team showed any sign of pulling away, as HPU went on a run early to take a 12-6 lead before a kill from Heath stopped their momentum. The Urban Knights continued to battle, getting as close as 19-16 after yet another kill from their senior outside hitter. Lindsay Elgin got in on the action to make it 20-17, but then the Sea Warriors got four straight points to make it 24-18. Unlike the third set, there was no set-point run to be had for ART U, and Hawai'i Pacific left San Francisco with the 3-1 victory.

Along with Heath and Elgin, Taylor Suchy also broke into double-digits in kills, amassing 11 to go with her 10 digs. The Knights could also chalk up another night out-blocking their opponents, notching 9.5 total blocks to 7.0 by HPU. The Sea Warriors had five players in double figures in kills, led by Amanda Moriarty with 17. Chelsea Buyuan had 28 digs, while Pihanakealoha Kea had 49 assists for the visitors. 

The Urban Knights play again on Friday against BYU-Hawai'i before traveling to Dixie State and Grand Canyon. They'll finish the season at home against Notre Dame de Namur and Fresno Pacific.