SAN FRANCISCO -- Locked in a back-and-forth battle with Azusa Pacific on Friday afternoon inside Kezar Pavilion, ART U Volleyball had one of its best fifth sets of the season, closing out a 3-2 victory (25-23, 27-29, 25-22, 19-25, 15-6) on a 10-0 run. Three Urban Knights posted double-digit kills led by 16 put-aways from redshirt freshman outside hitter Ema Causevic.

Following an 8-3 push in the middle of the first set that featured multiple kills by senior outside hitter Melissa Brum, Academy of Art established a 16-11 lead that they would maintain the rest of the way. Causevic slammed one home for the 25-23 victory and the momentum carried into a 5-0 lead to start the second as she delivered two service aces early on. Despite leading by as many as 10 points early, ART U could not stop the Cougars' comeback and ended up falling 29-27 after five ties from 23-23.

 
Azusa Pacific went ahead 6-3 in the opening stanza of the third set, but the Knights pushed back with a 12-4 surge highlighted by multiple service aces from Causevic and redshirt sophomore defensive specialist Lyndsay Mlynar. Now ahead 17-15, ART U held the advantage for the remainder of the set, culminating with another Causevic kill at 25-22.

The fourth set saw APU waste little time moving ahead. Up 7-3 to start, the Cougars saw their margin closed to two points at 12-10, but another 8-1 push made a fifth set seem inevitable. Junior outside hitter Bailey Soolsma's kill brought the Knights to within four at 21-17, however, Azusa Pacific hung tough and ended up forcing the fifth frame after a 25-19 final score.

Kills by Causevic, Brum, freshman middle blocker Jennifer Argelander, and freshman setter Lilika Teu helped Academy of Art gain a 6-3 advantage in the ultimate set, but APU did not go quietly, tying things up 6-6. From there, the momentum took a decisive turn in favor of ART U. Teu found sophomore outside hitter Hanna Kahn to start what would be a 10-0 run that simply ended the match. Three kills and one block assist from Soolsma came during the dramatic shift and the end result was a dominant 15-6 score.

The win, ART U's first in PacWest Conference play, puts Academy of Art at 3-8 overall and 1-1 in conference this year. Causevic had her second consecutive double-double with 16 kills and 13 digs while Brum and Soolsma each added 12 kills apiece. Senior libero Kabrina Speakman offered a match-high 23 digs. Mlynar and Teu each had 12 digs while Teu upped her career high with 44 assists.
 
Azusa Pacific remains winless (0-2) in PacWest play and drops to 4-7 overall with the loss. Madison Ogas had the Cougars' top performance with 14 kills and 16 digs.
 
ART U continues its four-part homestand tomorrow when the Knights host Concordia at 5 p.m. back inside Kezar Pavilion.