Photo Gallery (images by Evan Aczon)

Hayward, CA -- After the first day of the Route 92 Showdown, the Academy of Art University volleyball continues to show why this year's team can be extremely dangerous to the PacWest power rankings in 2013. The Urban Knights lost their first match of the day 3-1 to Humboldt State, but bounced back to dismantle University of Alaska-Fairbanks in the last match of the day, hitting .571 as a team and sweeping the match in three sets.

"In the match against UAF, we did a great job with our serve receive allowing Rachael [Smith] to orchestrate a diversified offense," said head coach Ed Jackson. "We were able to attack from several different areas along the net making it difficult to defend. Serve reception will be our key to success. When we pass well, good things are going to happen."

The morning started off on a high note, with the Knights jumping out to an early 10-3 lead in the first set. The Lady Jacks came back, but  late run that took the Knights from 18-14 to 23-14 put them in a comfortable position to take the set. The Jacks then battled their way into the lead in the ensuing sets, taking the second set 25-20. In the third set, the Knights had a big lead, but Humboldt chipped away and eventually took the lead, winning 25-22. On their last chance, the Knights had a lead as late as 22-21, but the Jacks again took the set by another 25-22 score.

In the first match, the Knights and Jacks were similar in terms of stats, with ART U hitting .166 to HSU's .160 percentage. Academy of Art was led by the freshman Melissa Brum once again, as she had 14 kills and 13 digs in the opener. Junior Lindsay Elgin continued her strong play that earned her a spot on the All-Tournament Team last week with 12 kills, six total blocks, and a .524 hitting percentage. Libero Kanoe Irvine added 29 digs for the Knights. Kaitlyn Dunaway of Humboldt State led all scorers with 20 kills. 

Academy of Art had to wait until the 5:00 PM match against Alaska-Fairbanks to exact their revenge, again jumping out to a 1-0 lead. They were up at one point 15-11 and then went on a 10-5 run to finish the game, capitalizing on errors from the Nanooks to win 25-16. The following sets featured a couple impressive runs by the Urban Knights, going up 10-1 on their first server of the second set, freshman Emily Papale. ART U won that second set 25-11, their best win of year so far, and finished the job behind a 6-0 set that broke a 13-13 tie to finish 25-18.

The Knights hit .463 as a squad, highlighted by Brum (16 kills, .556 hitting percentage), Elgin (10 kills, .563 hitting percentage), and Brittany Ulmer (8 kills, .583 hitting percentage. Sam Harthun led the Nanooks with 17 kills, but Alaska Fairbanks hit .087 overall.

"In tournament play, we've yet to prove we can perform consistently for an entire day," said Jackson. "We played a great afternoon match today and look forward to our rematches with St. Martin's and Cal State Monterey Bay tomorrow."

The tournament will conclude tomorrow with the Urban Knights facing Saint Martin's again in the morning and Cal State Monterey Bay in the afternoon.