Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Belmont, CA – Traveling to the second site of the Route 92 Showdown on Saturday, Academy of Art University Volleyball kept right on rolling with two more three-set sweeps. The Urban Knights began with a 3-0 victory over Pacific West Conference foe Notre Dame de Namur before posting a 3-0 win against Carson Newman out of Jefferson City, TN.

"This weekend we really grew a lot and gained a lot of confidence," head coach Ed Jackson said. "We showed we can play at a pretty high level consistently. It's great for our team's growth and maturity that we managed to get some solid wins against quality opponents."

In an early preview of two teams who will meet during PacWest Conference play later this year, Academy of Art carried its momentum from the night before and established a 17-10 lead to start the first set. At one point, ART U rattled off five straight kills including three consecutive by Melissa Brum.

That cushion was all the Knights needed as a variety of offensive exclamation marks were delivered from Safua Elisaia, Emily Papale, Isabel Emrich, and Brittany Ulmer en route to the 25-17 opening set win. Academy of Art grabbed a quick 4-0 lead to start the second and soon back-to-back Ulmer service aces helped ART U establish a 10-3 advantage.

From there, NDNU came right back with a 6-0 burst, but at no point did the Knights relinquish their lead as kills by Elisaia, Rachael Smith, and Ulmer kept Academy of Art focused on finishing strong. Four consecutive points at the end gave ART U two sets and tremendous confidence heading to the third.

Three of Ulmer's six service aces came during the 6-0 surge by the Knights to start that set and soon big kills hit the floor one after another. Papale continued to swing with authority as she helped her team claim a 14-6 lead which held up the rest of the way. The result never seemed to be in doubt as Academy of Art took the set 25-15 and the match.

"We did a really fantastic job of controlling the ball," Coach Jackson said. "We really worked hard in practice just making smart decisions and keeping balls in play when we have the opportunity. Our team really applied that strategy this weekend and it translated into victories. I'm very proud of the girls and couldn't have asked for a better opening weekend."


It was an evenly played first set when ART U met Carson Newman in the early evening to finish off their part in the tournament. From a 6-6 tie, the Knights briefly took a lead, but the Eagles bounced back and things were knotted up 20-20. Academy of Art fended off a set point at 25-24 and proceeded to utilize kills from Ulmer and Papale to eventually prevail 29-27.

Ties were again the story early in the second set as the teams battled through six deadlocks before a 7-0 Knights run created an important margin. Brum and Elisaia helped start it off and, though Carson Newman fought back to within one point, Papale's right hand had the final say to win it 25-22.

An 8-2 Academy of Art burst started the third set only it was erased by the Eagles at 12-12. From that moment, ART U had its biggest roll of the weekend. The Knights scored 10 of the next 11 points as nearly the entire starting lineup offered kills. In the end, a 25-15 domination went the way of the only art school in the NCAA along with another sweep.

Now 3-1 overall, the Urban Knights saw highlight performances all around including double-doubles from Brum (14 kills, 10 digs | 19 kills, 13 digs) as well as two 30+ assist totals for Smith (34 and 38). Elisaia had her season-high of eight kills against NDNU while Papale turned in nine kills and eight digs against Carson Newman. Kanoe Irvine remained as solid as ever, offering 13 digs in each victory.

Academy of Art will take on another four opponents next weekend (Sept. 11-13) in the PacWest/GNAC Crossover held at Dominican's Conlan Rec Center in San Rafael.