BELMONT, Calif. – On day two of the Route 92 Showdown, Academy of Art University volleyball battled, but could not gain enough momentum to overcome their two opponents, Barry and Chico State, at Notre Dame High School. The first match saw the Buccaneers go on runs midway through the second and third sets before earning the sweep 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-19) while Chico State gained momentum in the first and third sets en route to the 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-15) decision.
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"Today, our opponents did a really good job exposing our weaknesses," said head coach
Ray Batalon. "Yesterday, we did a good job in sustaining our serving and passing. Â Today, we struggled in those areas. And when you struggle with in those two areas, it puts a tremendous amount of pressure on our setters and attackers to find ways to score."
Facing a four-point deficit in the opening set, Academy of Art battled back with junior
Margaret Winkler assisting back-to-back blocks to spark a 10-2 run which put the Knights up 19-15. Barry rebutted with a 10-3 surge that finished the set in their favor 25-22 despite a 23-22 score late. The second set was an even 11-11 before the Bucs gained an advantage by way of a 9-4 push that gained them a 25-18 win.
Freshman setter
Lilika Teu found junior outside hitter
Bailey Soolsma for a kill to keep things close early in the third set, but Barry then proceeded to rattle of six unanswered points during a 10-1 run. Freshman middle blocker
Jennifer Argelander contributed two block assists and her first collegiate kill during a 5-1 response to close some of the gap to 20-15, but the Buccaneers would not let ART U come any closer the rest of the way. Senior outside hitter
Kabrina Speakman finished with a team-high seven kills to go with nine digs.
"We found ourselves playing out of system a lot and taking some difficult swings," said Batalon. "Also, with our team, they're still trying to find an identity for ourselves. We have some newcomers playing a significant role for us and because of that, we will sustain some setbacks. For the most part, we saw glimpses of what we were capable of this weekend. Now it's a matter of us sustaining that level of play for a longer period of time."
MATCH 2 – Chico State 3, ART U 0
The Wildcats came out of the gate hot, jumping out to a 12-2 lead in the first set. Though Winkler continued her success on the block, the Knights' deficit was too great for a comeback and Chico State claimed the opener 25-15. Despite a 12-6 disadvantage in the second, Academy of Art got kills from redshirt freshman outside hitter
Ema Causevic and senior outside hitter
Melissa Brum during a quick 4-0 burst. Another 4-0 run came shortly thereafter and soon it was a one-point affair at 22-21, but the Wildcats made one final three-point push to go ahead 2-0 in the match.
Five unanswered Chico State points opened the third set, but ART U worked its way back to close the gap to 13-11 on a tandem block by Winkler and Causevic. A 9-2 run gave the Wildcats another cushion, however, and they rode that to a 25-15 set win for the sweep. Brum finished with a team-best seven kills and nine digs.
Through their first tournament of the year, ART U is 1-3 overall. ART U has already shown an increase in its blocking ability with Winkler leading the charge at 1.44 blocks per set after her season-high eight against Chico State.
"We've worked really hard on our blocking starting from last spring," said Batalon. "It was a focus for us at the end of last season and I'm glad we're seeing that come out in our play. It is an area we feel we can alleviate the pressure of our back row defenders. "
Academy of Art will return to Hayward this Thursday-Saturday for another four-part tournament, the D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase, where the Knights will face Saint Martin's (Sept. 8), Cal State San Marcos and Cal State Monterey Bay (both Sept. 9), and Cal State East Bay once again (Sept. 10).
