Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Seaside, CA -- In accordance to the Academy of Art's seemingly newfound tradition, Saturday's final session of the Otter Classic started off with a hard-fought five-set match against the tournament host, Cal State Monterey Bay. In the morning edition, the Urban Knights took down the Otters 25-23, 14-25, 25-23, 25-27, 15-12 to earn a spot in the evening's championship matchup, a rematch with San Francisco State. The Knights would fall in the finale by a score of 3-0. 

The Knights and Otters were deadlocked for much of the first set, but after an ace put CSUMB up 16-13, the Urban Knights rallied and capitalized on three straight errors to take an 18-16 lead. Cal State Monterey Bay retook the lead at 22-20, but ART U once again took control got two straight blocks to end the set with a 25-23 win.

After dropping the second set, the Urban Knights went back to work in the third set in another neck-and-neck battle. Academy of Art took the lead at 11-8, only to see CSUMB tie it up again at 11-11. The teams traded points back and forth, but when the Otters took a 23-22 lead, the Knights sprang into action, again using the block to kick off three straight points to win the set and go up 2-1.

Monterey Bay returned the favor, staving off a late Urban Knights rally in the fourth set. CSUMB had a 21-18 lead but the Knights rallied back to tie at 23-23. There were ties at 24-24 and 25-25, but the Otters got two points to send it to a pivotal fifth set. Just like last night's match against SF State, the Knights jumped out early in the final set, taking a 7-4 lead on a kill from newcomer Melissa Brum. They extended that lead to 12-8, and after three match points went to CSUMB, it was once again the defense that came to the rescue, as Caitlin Boring and Lindsay Elgin assisted on the block to win 15-12.

Emily Papale led the Urban Knights with 20 kills and also totaled 21 digs. Melissa Brum added 13 kills, while Boring ended with 11 kills and five total blocks. Brittany Ulmer also had 11 kills and added a pair of blocks while hitting at a .429 clip, and Lindsay Elgin had a team-high seven blocks. Setter Rachael Smith racked up 51 assists and four blocks of her own. CSUMB had a pair of hitters with 20 kills in Jessica Malcolm and Julia Ashen, closely trailed by Victoria Clardy with 17.


WIth the Knights in the tournament finale, they had to wait for their turn to get on the court. Almost two and a half hours after their projected start time, they were ready to face San Francisco State again in the matchup between the best of the Blue Pool against the best of the Gold. The Knights and Gators squared off last night, with ART U coming away victorious in a five-set match, but SF State took control of Saturday's finale, eking out a marathon 31-29 battle in the first set, pulling away late to win the second set 25-19, and finished out the third set 25-16.

The Knights continued to play extremely well up front, getting 12 blocks, including eight total from their pillars Elgin (5 TB) and Boring (3 TB). Brum added 11 kills and 12 digs to her fast-growing totals here in the first tournament of the season, while Emily Papale haas 10 of her own. Brittany Ulmer had seven kills and a .467 hitting percentage in the finale, while Smith added 33 assists. Libero Kanoe Irvine had 16 digs.

Papale leads the team after four matches with 52 kills, while Smith is averaging a solid 9.82 assists per set. Elgin was named to the All-Tournament Team after posting 25 total blocks in 17 sets, an average of 1.47 blocks per game, along with her 27 kills. Also named to the All-Tournament team was junior Brittany Ulmer, who came on strong to finish with 25 kills and a stellar hitting percentage of .311 on the year. Academy of Art will play in another local tournament next weekend, heading south to the Route 92 Showdown, co-hosted by Notre Dame de Namur and Cal State East Bay. The first day features matches against Humboldt State and University of Alaska - Fairbanks.