SAN FRANCISCO – In Thursday's start to the D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase, Academy of Art University rallied in the face of a deficit, but ended up taking a 3-1 loss (25-15, 25-23, 19-25, 25-18) to Cal Poly Pomona. A 13-3 run closed the Urban Knights' third set victory with authority yet the Broncos managed to fend off the comeback in the fourth.

"I thought in the third set we started to settle in with our serving and blocking," said head coach Ray Batalon. "We were able to get in them and slow some of their hitters down, giving us good opportunities to score."

Even at 9-9 in the first set, a momentum shift came for CPP with their 11-3 run. Kills by junior middle blocker Safua Elisaia got ART U back on track, but it was too late to prevent what became a 25-15 win for the Broncos.

The Knights did not let Cal Poly Pomona get more than a four-point margin in the second set and even had a kill by freshman middle blocker Sadie Emery spark a 4-0 run to tie things up at 23-23. The final two points went to CPP, however, and the end result was a 25-23 victory.

The teams exchanged runs in the third set and, after junior outside hitter Bailey Soolsma provided her third and fourth kills to make it 16-16, it appeared the Broncos might make a push, going up 18-16. Academy of Art had other plans as Elisaia and freshman outside hitter Kimiah Johnson both had kills during a 7-0 surge to take a 23-18 lead. Elisaia and Emery spiked the necessary points for the Knights' 25-19 triumph.

Set four was another close battle to 13-13, however, a 7-2 run by CPP ended up providing the margin necessary for the 25-18 final and the match itself.

"I thought the biggest difference was experience," said Batalon. "We have a lot of our younger players playing in some key positions and, when the game was close, our youth showed."

ART U moves to 1-2 on the year, but saw Soolsma tie her career-high with 13 kills plus 10 digs for her second straight double-double. Emery offered nine kills while hitting .500 and sophomore setter Lilika Teu added 30 assists plus eight digs. Freshman Ashley Pawlak, who converted to the starting libero in the final two sets, finished with a team-high 13 digs.

For the now 2-3 Broncos, no player reached double figures in kills, but five had seven or more including nine from Desi Martin.

Academy of Art steps into a doubleheader tomorrow with Alaska at 11:15 a.m. and Cal State Monterey Bay at 6 p.m. back inside SF State's Main Gymnasium for day two of the Showcase.