Match #21
ART U Urban Knights (9-11, 4-8 PWC) vs. NDNU Argonauts (0-19, 0-12 PWC)
Saturday, October 25, 2014 at 3:00 PM
San Francisco, CA – Kezar Pavilion
Live Stats & Video

ARGOS AT ART U IN SATURDAY MATINEE
Playing their penultimate home game this weekend, Academy of Art Volleyball meets Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday. Although it is the second time these two teams will meet this season, it will be their first official PacWest matchup.

OPENING SERVE
Academy of Art plays host to Notre Dame de Namur at Kezar Pavilion this Saturday, Oct. 25 with first serve set for 3:00 PM. Live coverage will be available via the link above. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights on Twitter & Instagram and "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

KNIGHT WATCH
ART U currently sits in second in the PacWest in service aces (1.51 SA/set) and is third in digs (16.44 DG/set). Sophomore Melissa Brum had double-double #14 through 20 matches against Fresno Pacific and still can be found with the sixth highest kills (4.54) and points (4.92) per set in the entire NCAA Division II. She is second in the PacWest in both of those categories and now ranks fourth on the program's single season list for total kills with 337 to date.

Junior Rachael Smith remains within the national leaders in assists per set, now at 10.66 (36th in NCAA DII and fourth in PacWest). The program's new career assists leader now has 2,835 in an Urban Knights uniform.

Senior Kanoe Irvine, who is fifth in the PacWest in service aces per set (0.42), needs just seven more to surpass Jelena Jakovljevic's 37 (2009) for the program's single season record. Irvine (4.18 DG/set) and sophomore Emily Papale (3.59 DG/set) remain in the conference's Top 10 in digs per set.

AGAINST THE ARGOS AGAIN
The 2014 season has been a rough one for the Argonauts who have yet to win a match, taking a total of just five sets from their opponents thus far. When ART U and NDNU met earlier this year as part of the Route 92 Showdown,  the Knights swept behind a match-high 14 kills from Brum and solid support with seven kills apiece from junior Isabel Emrich and Papale. Notre Dame de Namur took two sets from Chaminade in a 3-2 loss and one apiece from Hawaii Pacific and Dominican, but the remainder of their PacWest season has been sweeps. The team is led by Bianca Alvarez and her 2.50 kills per set while Sifagatogo Faaiu adds 2.17 kills per set. The Academy of Art victory earlier in the year gave them a 9-4 edge in the all-time matchup.

DIXIE STATE SWEEPS ART U IN UTAH
Meeting Dixie State on Oct. 21 almost month removed from their Bay Area matchup, Academy of Art fought valiantly in the opening set, but the Red Storm used a quick run to create momentum towards a 3-0 victory (25-22, 25-17, 25-19). For the now 9-11 Urban Knights (4-8 PacWest), Brum completed the night with 15 kills. Papale added 10 kills and eight digs. Smith contributed 26 assists and seven digs while Irvine had nine digs.

LOOKING AHEAD
Academy of Art's annual Hawaii roadtrip is next on tap with stops at Chaminade (Oct. 30), Hawaii Pacific (Oct. 31), and BYU-Hawaii (Nov. 1) coming up. A rematch with Holy Names comes on Nov. 6 before ART U closes out its season with a three-game road stretch.