Box Score
San Diego, CA -- The Academy of Art University and Point Loma Nazarene University put up almost identical stats on Thursday night, but in the end, by only a combined eight points, it was the Sea Lions that continued their win streak and in the process, brought an end to the run that the Urban Knights had been on. It was a close battle throughout, but PLNU stayed undefeated in conference play with a 3-0 victory (25-22, 25-22, 25-23).

There were 10 ties in the first set as the Knights took a 14-10 lead late, but PLNU equalized at 14-14. The last tie was at 18-18 on a kill from Emily Papale, but the Sea Lions went on a 7-4 run from there to secure the 1-0 lead. The second set featured dour lead changes and seven ties with the Knights taking a 17-15 lead on an ace from Melissa Brum, but ties at 19, 20, 21, and 22 led to a three-point run by PLNU to go up 2-0.

In the third set, the Knights got a late lead again at 17-15, but just couldn't create the space needed to put the Sea Lions away, as they came back to tie at 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23. But Kelli LeClair and Briana Vieth came up with back-to-back kills, and the home team stayed unbeaten in the PacWest.

The Urban Knights out blocked the Sea Lions 9.0 to 8.0 and trailed the total kills count by only three (45-42), but the timing of those points was the decider. This was a far cry from earlier in the year when PLNU got 11 aces on the Knights, as the teams were almost even in that department, while they were only separated by .040 in hitting percentage. Papale led the Knights with 11 kills, while Brittany Ulmer had 10 kills on a stellar .471 hitting percentage. Rachael Smith had 35 assists for ART U, while Lindsay Elgin added six total blocks. Heather Leavitt led all hitters with 13 kills for PLNU, while LeClair and Alyssa Dwyer each had 10.

Academy of Art will jog north to Fullerton to take on Azusa Pacific tomorrow evening before playing their third match in three days on Saturday night against California Baptist.