SAN FRANCISCO – Academy of Art University volleyball's home opener went down to the wire Saturday night, but despite carrying a two-set lead, ART U wound up on the losing end of a 3-2 final (19-25, 17-25, 25-20, 25-20, 16-14) hosting Dominican inside Kezar Pavilion. Three Urban Knights finished with double-doubles in the match.

From a 7-7 tie in the first set, Academy of Art created separation with an 8-1 push that featured three kills by freshman outside hitter Kimiah Johnson. The Penguins had a rebuttal that brought them within two points at 19-17, but the frame was closed by ART U 25-19 on a 6-2 run capped by senior middle blocker Margaret Winkler's set point kill.

Similarly to the first set, the second frame was tied 10-10 before the Knights rattled off nine unanswered points with two kills by freshman outside hitter Ashley Pawlak among the highlights. That surge was enough to give Academy of Art the edge and it was sophomore setter Lilika Teu's assist to Winkler that ended the set 25-17 in favor of the home team once again.

Out of the gate in the third set, ART U scored the first six points as junior setter Alana Lucas delivered back-to-back service aces to help build the momentum. Dominican, however, worked its way back and, after retying it at 12-12, went up 15-12. Teu found Johnson for two consecutive kills with the set reaching its latter stages, yet the Penguins made another push to win 25-20.

A tight fourth set shifted after five unanswered points gave Dominican an 18-13 lead, but a 6-1 response later brought Academy of Art to within two at 22-20. From there, miscues enabled the visitors to stave off elimination once more, forcing a fifth set after a repeat 25-20 score.

Service aces by Teu and Winkler combined with kills from senior outside hitter Bailey Soolsma and Johnson plus Penguin service errors to give ART U an 8-2 advantage starting the fifth set. After moving ahead 13-7 on a combined block from Winkler and Johnson, the Knights saw their margin cut down to one, 13-12, following a 5-0 run. Winkler's sixth kill of the night stopped the comeback temporarily, giving Academy of Art a match point, but Dominican resiliently fought back with multiple kills from Aimee Steinwand to end up taking a 16-14 victory and the match.

ART U is now 2-6 overall and 0-2 in its PacWest portion of the season. The Urban Knights' 92 digs was a season-high and the most they had achieved ironically since facing Dominican last year on Oct. 16. Johnson finished with new career-highs of 20 kills and 18 digs for her third double-double. Soolsma added 15 kills plus 16 digs, Pawlak went for nine kills with 22 digs, and redshirt junior libero Lyndsay Mlynar put up 16 digs. Winkler was involved in eight blocks while her six kills came with the highest hitting percentage on the team (.417). Teu also had a double-double, her first of the year, by way of 43 assists and 11 digs (both season-highs).

Dominican earns its first conference win (1-1) and improves to 2-8 overall this year. Steinwand led the Penguins with 15 kills.

Academy of Art ventures to Hawaii next weekend for matchups with UH Hilo (Sept. 22) and Hawaii Pacific (Sept. 23) as PacWest Conference play rolls on.