SAN FRANCISCO – Back inside Kezar Pavilion after its Hawaii roadtrip, Academy of Art University volleyball found itself locked in a see-saw matchup with Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday afternoon. An extended first set demonstrated both teams' fight and when the dust had settled, it was the Argonauts who prevailed 3-1 (29-27, 25-17, 20-25, 25-23).
NDNU jumped out to an early 9-4 lead, but a 5-0 run featuring two kills by redshirt sophomore middle blocker
Safua Elisaia closed that gap quickly. The Northern California Pacific West Conference squads jockeyed for position until a 4-0 burst put ART U ahead 21-18. A 6-1 response gained the Argos' a set point, but momentum swung the opposite way with a kill by senior outside hitter
Melissa Brum highlighting a 3-0 push to a set point for the Urban Knights. Academy of Art fought off two more set points down the stretch before the visitors used a block and an ART U miscue to win 29-27.
Another early lead was had by Notre Dame de Namur, but the Knights steadily closed the gap to a tie at 14-14. From there, however, the Argos closed the 25-17 set on an 11-3 run, going ahead 2-0 in the match. Set three was vastly different that the first two in that the trio of Elisaia, Brum, and redshirt freshman outside hitter
Ema Causevic each had multiple kills during a 16-3 start. NDNU fought back to trail by four at 24-20, but junior middle blockers
Margaret Winkler and
Bailey Soolsma teamed up for a rejection to seal the set for ART U 25-20.
The Argos made adjustments and established a 13-7 advantage in the fourth set by way of an 8-1 run yet that was answered by a 9-4 surge by Academy of Art. Though it looked like NDNU would finish off the win up 23-18, the Knights responded with five unanswered points including a pair of kills by Causevic to tie things up 23-23. In the end, the visitors got back-to-back putaways when they needed them most and claimed a 25-23 set for the 3-1 victory.
Saturday's result brings ART U to 5-13 overall and 3-6 in PacWest play this year. Brum offered 12 kills and nine digs while Elisaia posted 11 kills and six block assists. Freshman setter
Lilika Teu dealt out 27 assists and Causevic amassed 21 digs to go with seven kills of her own.
NDNU improves to 5-14 overall and 3-8 in conference with the win. Bianca Alvarez led the Argos with a match-high 23 kills on 79 attempts and added 14 digs.
