Box Score #1
Box Score #2

Arcata, CA -- The Academy of Art University women's volleyball team took a pair of difficult losses to begin the season in the 2011 Humboldt State Tournament. Cal State East Bay won the first match 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-18) despite a combined 23 kills from the senior tandem of middle blocker Amy Bush and outside hitter Leinani Keanini. In the second match of the afternoon, ART U got off to a strong start, but Central Washington eventually managed to prevail 3-1 (18-25, 25-13, 25-17, 26-24).

“It's very exciting to finally be competing,” Head Coach Allison Magner said. “I love the Humboldt State Tournament because it's well run and enjoyable being here. I was incredibly pleased, not with the outcome, but with the progress we made throughout the day. It's great to see our hard work start coming to life on the court.”

Friday's opening match began with an extremely close first set. After an early tie, Academy of Art pushed ahead with a 5-1 run capped off by junior outside hitter Angela Heath's kill, but the Pioneers answered back and eventually locked the teams at 11-11. CSUEB then had two bursts of its own to try and pull away though the Knights clawed back on each occasion. Though ART U was up 20-19, a late push by East Bay resulted in the 25-23 score.

“We're a youthful program with new staff and seven new additions so finding flow and cohesiveness this morning was difficult for us,” Coach Magner said. “Cal State East Bay is a strong competitor who comes with a good attitude and chemistry. We were performing well individually, but we just weren't able to push through as a unit and finish. We battled with ourselves.”

Keanini and senior middle blocker Camille Board each had two kills during a lengthy battle to start the second set which featured nine ties. The Pioneers, however, broke free using a 5-1 stretch which created enough of a margin to hold on for the 25-15 second set victory. CSUEB's momentum from finishing the second frame carried over into the third as East Bay went on the offensive, creating a 13-3 advantage. From that point, the Urban Knights would outscore their opponents 15-11 thanks to repeated attacking efforts from Keanini, Bush, and freshman outside hitter Brittany Ulmer. But the Pioneers' margin was too great, leading them to secure a 25-18 victory in the final set.


Determined to bounce back from the first match, Academy of Art came out on fire against Central Washington. The Knights amassed a 12-6 lead after back-to-back kills by Keanini. Though the Wildcats at one time came to within three points, ART U held tight to its advantage and with kills late from freshman middle blocker Holli "Ka'ena" Kaina, Academy of Art took the first set 25-18.

“We went with a lot of new kids in that match because at any given moment we had six new kids on the court at one time,” Coach Magner said. “I'm very proud of them. They came out with no absolutely no fear. They had heart, passion, and when we started putting things together, there were glimpses of greatness. Because of our youth, we were struggling to find consistency, but seeing the new blood come in and get the job done was very exciting.”

Central Washington captured an early 14-7 lead in the second set and kept the pressure on until the 25-13 final. Now tied in sets 1-1, both teams looked for the edge in the third frame. With the scored knotted at 9-9, CWU opened up a six-point advantage shortly thereafter which which held through to the eventual 25-17 third set score favoring the Wildcats. On fire to start the fourth set, Academy of Art began with consecutive kills by Keanini, Board, and Keanini once again. The Knights were up 6-0, but an 8-1 response by Central Washington erased the margin. The squads went back and forth with neither team ever having more than a two-point advantage. In the end, CWU took the set 26-24 and ultimately won the match.

On the first day of competition, Academy of Art was led by Keanini with her 28 kills and 18 digs over two matches. Bush added 12 kills against East Bay while the newcomer duo of sophomore outside hitter Mykal "Myke" Vailu'u and freshman outside hitter Brittany Ulmer combined to add 14 kills in the second contest. Freshman setter Lehuanani "Kawai" Oleole amassed 66 assists over the two matches (29 in the first, 37 in the second) and freshman libero Midori Le was strong defensively with eight digs against CSUEB and nine versus CWU. The ART U record stands at 0-2.

Cal State East Bay had a top performance from Nicole Boyle with 10 kills, supported by nine apiece for Kitona Offord and Morgan Hirzel. With 28 assists from Kristen Neary and 12 digs by Leslie Ray, CSUEB received solid all-around production in the match. The Pioneers are 1-0 on the season following their first match of the tournament.

Meg Ryan led Central Washington in the second match of the afternoon with 18 kills to tie her career-high and a .545 hitting percentage. Jordan Offutt added 14 kills while Carlee Marble posted 38 assists. CWU moves to 2-0 overall this year.

ART U will continue its season-opening Humboldt State Tournament tomorrow with matches against Humboldt State (10:00 AM) and St. Martin's (1:00 PM). Live Stats will be available for the match versus HSU.