Photo Gallery (images by Hailey Archambault, Nicol Biesek, & Bob Toy)

San Francisco, CA -- Playing their second match in two days, the Academy of Art University volleyball team battled it out with Point Loma Nazarene University on Friday night. Unfortunately, the Urban Knights were kept out of sync against the Sea Lions, coming back with a resounding third set but eventually falling 3-1 (25-20, 25-13, 20-25, 25-11) at Kezar Pavilion. Freshman Emily Papale and senior Caitlin Boring led the Knights on the attack in the loss.

The Sea Lions (8-3, 2-0 PacWest) started strong in the first set, immediately taking a 3-0 lead and stretching it to 10-3 at one point early on. But the Knights (4-6, 0-2 PacWest) battled back, and although down 20-12, battled it back to as close as 22-19 before Point Loma put it away on a kill from Alyssa Dwyer. PLNU took the second set as well, breaking a 4-4 tie and making it a 9-4 game. that lead extended to 16-7 and the Knights were unable to crack the Sea Lions code, falling 25-13.

Down 2-0, the Urban Knights started to claw their way back into the conversation, going up 8-3 early in the third set. The Sea Lions came back to tie at 14-14 but the Knights pulled back ahead at 18-15. After the score was only 22-20 Urban Knights, kills from Papale, Brittany Ulmer, and Boring  capped off the win and sent it to a fourth set.

But things didn't go the way of the home team, as the Knights fell behind early in the third set. a pair of 5-0 runs sent Point Loma on their way to a 25-11 win of the set and a 3-1 win of the match to keep the Knights without a win in the first two matches of conference play.  For the Knights, Papale and Boring each had eight kills, while Ulmer had seven kills and a .278 hitting percentage. Delaney McCraney led all scorers with 13 kills, while Dwyer added 12 kills and McKensey Wise and Kelli LeClair each contributed 10 kills to the action.

The Urban Knights will be back in action at home once again, hosting Dixie State on Tuesday evening at 7:00 PM.