San Francisco, CA – Up against the #4 team in the country on Monday night, the Urban Knights played some of their best volleyball in the second set, but BYU-Hawaii wound up prevailing 3-1 (25-12, 23-25, 25-17, 25-16). Junior Rachael Smith set the new program career assists record in that second frame, helping a trio of her ART U teammates succeed as Melissa Brum, Isabel Emrich, and Emily Papale all registered double-doubles inside Kezar Pavilion.

In the opening set, the Seasiders showed their high-powered offense, going up 8-4 quickly then soon rattling off eight of nine points to pull ahead 17-6. ART U began to find a rhythm towards the end of the first set, trading points as Emrich and Papale got involved, but the frame went to the visitors 25-12.

The second set was Academy of Art's best on the night. A pair of kills by Brum got it started and six ties ensued indicating the back-and-forth nature of this battle. Although BYUH threatened with multiple two-point margins, ART U dug deep and fought back. A memorable sequence saw Emrich put away a kill from Kanoe Irvine's set then serve an ace against the Seasiders' top hitter, Shih Ting Chen, to take a 16-15 lead. Late in the set, Brum and Papale went to work, guiding the Knights to a 6-2 push to end the frame on top 25-23.

A pivotal third set started with a 4-1 lead for Academy of Art, but a 10-2 surge by the Seasiders shifted the momentum. From there, ART U was unable to come closer than four points the rest of the way as Chen and Noel Pauga Wolman made a strong tandem on the offensive for BYU-Hawaii. Relatively even towards the end of the frame, BYUH had built up a margin to win 25-17.

The fourth set followed a similar trajectory as the third with an early 5-3 advantage for Academy of Art highlighted by two kills from Brum and one from Smith to start. However, the visitors rallied back for an 8-2 push that put them up 12-7. ART U refused to go without a fight and Papale delivered three consecutive kills to keep her squad within striking distance, 12-10. Unfortunately a 6-1 BYU-Hawaii run followed and the Seasiders took a 25-16 set victory in the end.

For the now 8-7 Urban Knights who are 3-4 in PacWest play, Brum and Papale each had 14 kills and 15 digs apiece to lead the way. Emrich added 12 kills and 15 digs while Irvine finished with a team-best 19 digs to further her spot as the program's career digs leader (855). Smith's 40 assists give her now 2,683 total for her career and put her #1 in the Academy of Art record books, passing Melissa Cheng's 2,663.

ART U resumes PacWest play on the road at California Baptist (Oct. 10) and at Point Loma (Oct. 11) later this week.