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Box Score #2

Arcata, CA -- ART U women's volleyball stood victorious in the conclusion of its first four matches of the season at the 2011 Humboldt State Tournament. In the event's final installment, Academy of Art prevailed over Saint Martin's 3-2 (24-26, 25-23, 25-23, 15-9) in a back-and-forth battle. Senior outside hitter Leinani Keanini amassed 30 digs and six service aces, both the second-most in school history, in that match. The Urban Knights also faced the host Lumberjacks with HSU winning 3-0 (28-26, 26-24, 25-19).

“Today was definitely satisfying because we worked very hard and were relentless with the pursuit of getting that win,” Head Coach Allison Magner said. “We have five freshmen so with our youth, we knew we would have to push hard to get the win. We were getting up early and didn't know how to sustain the lead so pushing through and finding that consistency was incredibly important. There is a calm chemistry about the group we had out there. They had composure and really fought through.”

Matching up with Humboldt State to begin the day, ART U hung right with the tournament host. The opening set featured nine ties by the time the teams were even at 12-12. From there, the Jacks went on a brief run to assume a 20-15 advantage heading into the set's crunch time. The Urban Knights stormed back, however, by way of a 9-4 push and consistent serves by freshman outside hitter Julie Cremoux which led Academy of Art to a potential set point at 25-24. HSU did not go quietly though as the Lumberjacks retook the lead and though ART U fought off one set point, Humboldt won the first set 28-26.

In the second frame, freshman setter Lehuanani "Kawai" Oleole had the Knights up first with a pair of service aces to start. Academy of Art was able to build on its early advantage by capitalizing on Jacks errors and executing offense of its own with kills by Keanini and sophomore outside hitter Mykal "Myke" Vailu'u. Cremoux would soon post back-to-back service aces of her own, making the score 10-5. ART U held the line with repeated kills by Keanini and was then up 21-15. An unfortunate stretch then ensued for the Knights with Humboldt putting forth an 11-3 burst and taking the set 26-24.

Again determined to extend the match, Academy of Art went up 7-2 in the third set. HSU responded once more by tying things at 7-7 and then neither team managed much of a margin through to a point where the squads were locked at 19-19 after a kill by senior middle blocker Camille Board. The Jacks would go on another run from there, eventually winning the set 25-19 and finishing the match.


Early in the contest against Saint Martin's, the Urban Knights made their presence felt. A 6-0 burst to start the match featured a pair of kills each from Vailu'u and freshman outside hitter Brittany Ulmer. Ulmer and Keanini would then each serve up back-to-back service aces and the ART U advantage was maintained for much of the set. However, a late rally by SMU brought them back in and the Saints were able to fight off six set points before ultimately stealing the first frame 26-24.

“I commend everyone who played a part in the weekend,” Coach Magner said. “We had a lot of substitutions and we're trying to find the ideal lineup with our newcomers. But Brittany Ulmer is one person who played with that fearless, consistent attitude. She completely kept the team together. Brittany has a calm personality on the court and in the clutch situations she executed and scored points for us to get ahead.”

Set two looked like déjà vu with a 7-1 Academy of Art margin created yet again thanks to offense run through Keanini and Ulmer. Saint Martin's responded though and soon the score was deadlocked 12-12. From there, each team looked to find some separation, but the squads matched one another until the very end. At 23-23, the Urban Knights emphatically took the set with another pair of service aces from Keanini. Though SMU got a slim lead early in the third set, Academy of Art immediately went to work and reeled off 10 unanswered points to take command 13-5. Freshman middle blocker Holli "Ka'ena" Kaina added to the attacks with a kill that forced the Saints to call timeout during that span. ART U, who won the set 25-23, would not let Saint Martin's back in for the remainder of the frame.

“We are utilizing the serve to score points now and finally that has started to pay off,” Coach Magner said. “Over the weekend, we were very tough with our serving. And where we've lacked in the past is defense because we're more of an offensive-heavy team. Our focus has been to go back to the basics with fundamentals because defense wins games. To have a complete set of individuals on the court that can all play defense is going to help us a lot. That's where the fire comes from. Much like the serving piece, it's nice to see the hard work in the spring pay off.”

As Academy of Art looked to finish the match in the fourth set, SMU had other plans. Like the previous frames, the Knights went up quickly 11-5 and still clung to that lead when the set moved into its clutch stages. The teams were tied 21-21, 23-23, and again at 24-24, but the last offensive push by the Saints sent the match to a fifth and decisive set. Up 6-1 one more time after various contributions including kills by senior middle blocker Amy Bush, Vailu'u, and Ulmer, ART U never relinquished the advantage and won its first match of the season with a 15-9 fifth set result.

It was a particularly memorable tournament for Keanini who led the Knights in kills in three of four matches and finished with 30 digs, two shy of her school record set last year, in the final contest. Keanini added 15 kills and six service aces, one behind the program's record, against Saint Martin's after posting 12 kills and seven digs versus Humboldt. Ulmer had a pair of solid matches with 10 digs and six kills to start off against the Jacks before coming through with 12 kills and 15 digs versus the Saints. Oleole served up 25 assists against versus HSU, then 41 assists in the SMU match for her own personal best in the first four matches. ART U moves to 1-3 overall following the first tournament of the season.

Leading the host Lumberjacks with 16 kills and 11 digs was Oceana Matsubu though Cheyann Deprue also had nine kills with a .533 hitting percentage. Anchoring the HSU defense was Tiffany McCray who had 12 digs and Allison Drobish who added seven block assists. Humboldt State's record stands at 2-1 following the match.

The Saints received a top performance from Kristyn Ross who logged 24 kills and 18 digs. She was supported by Katy Ferguson who had 16 kills and Cymbree Decosta who added 53 assists and 16 digs. SMU is 1-2 on the season.

The Urban Knights will play in one more tournament before their first home match of 2011. The Holiday Inn Crossroads Classic (Friday, Sept. 9 and Saturday, Sept. 10 in Grand Junction, CO) pits ART U against Adams State, Western State College of Colorado, Fort Lewis, and Colorado Mesa.