Box Score Belmont, CA – Behind a complete team effort and 113 digs, Academy of Art University Volleyball topped Notre Dame de Namur 3-1 inside Walter Gleason Gym. Senior
Kanoe Irvine set ART U's new single-game digs record (38) in her final match and three of her teammates added double-doubles to help the Urban Knights complete their best overall season since 2010.
Playing another team riding high after their "Senior Night" ceremony, Academy of Art struggled in the early going as the Argonauts went up 18-8. However, freshman
Bailey Soolsma's kill ignited a 9-2 burst by the Knights that featured a heavy dose of sophomore
Melissa Brum. She slammed down five kills including three in a row to make it 20-17 NDNU. On the verge of facing set point, ART U rattled off four straight points and, despite fending off two potential enders, wound up dropping a 26-24 score in the opener.
The Knights were determined to answer back in the second frame, but the Argos continued to play well in their home environment and it was not until it looked at a 12-8 deficit that Academy of Art strung together a run. Brum, junior
Isabel Emrich, and senior
Brittany Ulmer went one by one on the successful attacks to close the gap to a single point. NDNU would not concede its advantage, however, until 23-23 when back-to-back slams for sophomore
Emily Papale knotted it up. Notre Dame de Namur pushed to another set point, but this time, two kills from Papale and a block by Emrich and Soolsma finished the set in favor of ART U 26-24.
Set three was close once again the early going, yet it turned from a 7-7 tie into a 17-11 Knights lead thanks to kills by Ulmer, Papale, Brum, Soolsma, and finally Ulmer's second service ace of the evening. The Argos made it interesting down the stretch by scoring six of the next eight points, but the set ultimately ended with Academy of Art on top 25-22 following a ball handling error.
Ulmer's third service ace capped a 3-0 ART U beginning to the fourth set, but it would follow the two preceding with lots of back-and-forth action. The first true advantage came when the Knights got up 13-9 on a pair of kills by Brum. That was soon negated in an 18-18 score, but down the stretch, big plays from Papale and junior
Rachael Smith gained the momentum. Smith set Papale three times for the terminating ball and added her own service ace during a 4-0 run to get Academy of Art up 22-19. From there, Papale put away another, aced NDNU, and Brum did the final honors to win it 25-22.
It was a memorable night up and down the ART U roster as the Knights improved to 13-15 on the year and 8-12 in PacWest play, head coach
Ed Jackson's best year with the program. As a team, Academy of Art finished with 113 digs, second to the
program record of 123 set against UH Hilo on Oct. 1. Irvine led the sound defensive play with 38 digs to top her own previous program record of 36 set
versus UH Hilo in 2013 and
tied at Chaminade in 2014.
Brum finished with 23 kills and 22 digs for her 20th double-double of the season while Papale contributed 18 kills and 22 digs to give her 11 double-doubles in her sophomore campaign. Smith was the third Urban Knight to register a double-double, going for a season-high 55 assists and 14 digs.
Three other players made offensive contributions with Ulmer, Soolsma, and Emrich each adding seven kills apiece. Ulmer delivered a team-high three block assists to give her a clean 180 block assists in her career.
Quickly becoming the program's top two in terms of career service aces in the early part of 2014, Irvine and Ulmer end the year not only #1 and #2 in single season aces (Irvine – 42, Ulmer – 39), but they are the first two Knights with 100+ aces in their respective careers (Irvine – 106, Ulmer – 101). Additionally, Irvine finishes as ART U's career leader with 1,077 digs and is the only player ever to surpass quadruple digits.
