Box Score

Azusa, CA -- The Academy of Art University women's volleyball team and the Azusa Pacific University Cougars went to battle in Southern California on Friday night, and after the two teams traded blows, the heavyweight bout came to an end with the Urban Knights on the wrong end of a 3-2 loss. Caitlin Boring and Taylor Suchy both had 11 kills to lead the Knights.

"I felt we fought through some poor performances in sets one and three to push Azusa Pacific to the limit," said head coach Ed Jackson. "We are still learning the importance of consistency when performing our skills."

Azusa came out swinging in the first set, taking a 13-0 lead out of the gate. The Knights fought back but still dropped the first set 25-11 against a Cougars team that has immediately established itself among the league leaders. But although ART U absorbed the body blows in the first, they returned in the second set for a marathon that notched a new single-set high in Urban Knights history.

The second set started off tight and stayed that way throughout, with neither side giving an inch. The biggest lead by either team was only four points, which the Cougars gained a couple times, the last at 23-19. But with their backs against the wall, the Urban Knights battled back, eventually tying the game at 23-23 after forcing an error and then taking the 24-23 lead on a kill by Boring. Then the two see-sawed back and forth, with neither team gaining the two-point advantage to gain the win. The Knights found their opening though, with Rachael Smith setting up Suchy to make it 29-28 and then again forcing an error to win the set by a final score of 30-28.

"In the second set, we applied our keys to winning," said Jackson. "We were aggressive with our serving and attacking and did a great job controlling our first ball contacts.  We got a few break from Azusa Pacific and we got the match back even at one apiece."

The Cougars came right back at the Knights in the third set, again staking a big lead at 14-5 before pushing a head to a 25-13 victory. The Knights had closed it to an 18-10 gap, but a 5-0 run put the set out of reach for ART U. It looked like bad news again in the fourth set, as APU jumped out to a 6-0 advantage, but this time the Knights weren't having it, going on a run of their own to tie the set at 11-11 before taking a lead they wouldn't give up. They stretched it to 23-16 on a kill by none other than Boring again, and despite a late charge by the Cougs, got a big block from Elgin and Angela Heath to force a fifth set.

The final set was close in the beginning, as there were ties at each point up to 5-5, but Azusa Pacific went on an 8-0 run before Heath notched a kill to make it 13-6. However, the damage was done, and the Cougars took the set 15-6 and the match 3-2.

"Our stress level is good. The team was very disappointed, but considering our start, we fought through to the end," said Jackson. "After the match we reflected with each player about their performance and identified areas they were exceptional in and factors we need to improve.  We will watch tonight's match tomorrow looking to correlate what we did when we won and outcomes we want to avoid."

Boring and Suchy had 11 kills apiece, while Janelle Burnett (15) and Rachael Smith (10) each got into double figures in digs. Elgin and Boring were money in the middle for the Knights, as both hit over .350 on the night, with Elgin hitting at a .375 rate and Boring hitting .370. The two also combined for 13 total blocks, as the Knights out blocked the Cougars 16-5. Azusa Pacific got five players in double figures in kills, led by Joy Reinke and Jackie Landers, who each had 16 kills. Hayley Beetstra added 14 kills, Lauren Edwards had 12 kills, and Ashley Vander Tuig notched 10 on the night.