ACADEMY OF ART BATTLES BAY FOR CHANCE AT .500 SEASON
Two matches remain on the 2014 ART U Volleyball schedule as the Urban Knights have an opportunity to close the book on their first .500 season since 2010. Academy of Art comes off a sweep of Holy Names on "Senior Knight" and a 3-0 loss to Fresno Pacific the previous week.

OPENING SERVE
ART U plays Thursday, Nov. 13 and Saturday, Nov. 15 in this final week with a Dominican rematch up first at Conlan Recreation Center in San Rafael. The Knights then follow by facing Notre Dame de Namur for the third time this year inside Walter Gleason Gym in Belmont. Both contests are set to begin at 7:00 PM. Live coverage will be available via the links above. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights on Twitter & Instagram and "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

KNIGHT WATCH
Heading into its final week, Academy of Art remains third in the PacWest in service aces (1.54 SA/set) and is now fifth in digs (16.29 DG/set). As she has virtually the entire year, sophomore Melissa Brum carries the second-most points (4.78) and kills per set (4.40) in the PacWest Conference. She leads the PacWest in total kills (409) while ranking seventh in the NCAA Division II in kills per set and 10th in points per set. Her 18th double-double (13 kills, 15 digs) came last week against Holy Names, giving her now 409 kills on the year which, in a single season, are second only to Dan Yang's 518.

At fourth in the PacWest and 41st in the country in assists per set (10.47), junior Rachael Smith has eclipsed quadruple digits in total assists for the second time in her three-year career and is the only Urban Knight ever to do so. She has logged 1,004 assists which rank third in the program's single-season history behind Melissa Cheng's 1,186 and her own 1,137 amassed last year.

As ART U's career service aces leaders, seniors Kanoe Irvine and Brittany Ulmer have a shot at becoming the program's single-season #1 and #2 in these final two matches. Irvine has taken the lead, but Ulmer needs four more to surpass her own career best and move into second overall. Three Urban Knights grace the PacWest's total service aces category with Irvine fifth (40), Ulmer sixth (34), and sophomore Emily Papale sixth (33). The Knights' career digs leader this season, Irvine remains locked in the conference's Top 10 at eighth in digs per set (4.26) after logging her 19th and 20th games in double-digits last week.

ANOTHER DOMINICAN DUEL
Since Sept. 17, when ART U swept the Penguins in the Knights' home opener, Dominican has experienced two major losing streaks broken up by a 3-2 win over UH Hilo, a 3-0 victory hosting Holy Names, and a 3-1 road triumph at NDNU. Most recently, the Penguins fell three times in Hawaii and, despite pushing HNU and Fresno Pacific to five sets, dropped both of their November road contests. However, the five-match slide was ended on a 3-1 win against the Argos and Dominican is set to host FPU on Nov. 11 prior to what will be the Penguins' season finale on Nov. 13 versus ART U. The Penguins are led offensively by Aimee Steinwand's 3.54 points per set and carry the PacWest's leading blocker in Samantha Rains (1.33 blocks per set). The Urban Knights trail Dominican 9-6 in their all-time matchup.

COMPLETING THE NDNU TRIFECTA
Academy of Art is responsible for dealing Notre Dame de Namur its fourth (Sept. 6) and 20th (Oct. 25) losses as part of a 23-match Argonauts' losing streak, but when NDNU matched up with Holy Names on Nov. 5, the slide came to an end. In their most recent home contest, Notre Dame de Namur dropped the opening set to the Hawks, but rallied back with three straight set victories and 20 kills from Kawai Robins-Hardy and 18 by Bianca Alvarez. Holy Names and NDNU will meet once more on Nov. 13 before the season finale hosting ART U. NDNU is led by Alvarez and her 2.96 points per set. All-time against the Argos, Academy of Art holds a 10-4 advantage.

ART U GOES 1-1 WITH SENIOR KNIGHT SWEEP OF HOLY NAMES
Following an emotional pre-match 'Senior Knight' ceremony, ART U Volleyball was extremely efficient in its 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-12) sweep of Holy Names on Nov. 6. The Urban Knights united with seniors Brittany Ulmer and Kanoe Irvine, using runs of 6-0 then 7-0 in each of the first two sets to create tremendous momentum towards their victorious finale.

Then, on Nov. 8, a hard-fought match ended up going the way of Fresno Pacific as the Urban Knights fell to the Sunbirds 3-0 (26-24, 27-25, 25-12) inside FPU's Special Events Center. Fighting off multiple Fresno Pacific set points in the first two sets, Academy of Art just couldn't put enough points together down the stretch to swipe either.