FRESNO, Calif. – Though Academy of Art volleyball held a 22-20 lead in the opening set and offered a better hitting percentage than Fresno Pacific in the second, FPU was able to secure the 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-15) Pacific West Conference victory on Saturday inside the Sunbirds' Special Events Center.

Following the ninth tie to open the action between two teams that had faced one another twice before this matchup, ART U used a 6-0 run highlighted by solo blocks from sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Alohi Garcia and junior right side/middle blocker Katherine Von Kraut to move in front 17-12. Soon up 22-20 on kill by graduate student opposite Claire Ricard, the Urban Knights faced three consecutive scores by the home team and, despite graduate student middle blocker Chandra Reed's kill evening the score at 23-23, the Sunbirds managed the final two points for a 25-23 win.

Academy of Art worked to erase a 6-1 push by FPU in the second set, getting three kills from graduate student middle blocker/outside hitter Fina Tuinauvai during a 7-3 surge to hold a 17-15 advantage. Going back-and-forth down the stretch, déjà vu seemed to strike as sophomore outside hitter Paola Divis' kill made it 23-23 before Fresno Pacific scored twice more for another 25-23 final.

A one-point game through the first 15 points of the third set, momentum swung to the Sunbirds thanks to their 5-0 run followed by a 5-1 burst thereafter. Scores were exchanged much of the rest of the way until the contest concluded on a 25-15 result favoring FPU.

ART U, now 6-20 overall and 5-13 in conference action, had five different Knights record five kills or more with Alohi Garcia's eight in front followed by seven from Reed, six apiece for Von Kraut and Tuinauvai, and five off the hands of Ricard. Setting up those fellow teammates was senior setter Elly McInerney who had 18 assists plus eight digs, the latter of which matched that of sophomore libero LC-Reece Nakagawa.

Fresno Pacific moves to 17-10 on the season and 12-7 against PacWest opponents with the win. Mia Gilcrest posted a double-double, offering a match-high 13 kills to go with 11 digs.

One more Southern California road trip will close out the Urban Knights' 2024 season as matchups with Azusa Pacific (Nov. 22) and Vanguard (Nov. 23) are up next.