SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Academy of Art volleyball once again found itself in a five-set match on Friday night inside West Field House and once again the Urban Knights emerged victorious. Led by five players registering double-digit kills, ART U toppled the Banana Slugs 3-2 (25-22, 24-26, 25-21, 22-25, 15-10) thanks in large part to a season-high 10 total blocks plus the team's fourth-highest dig total of the year (93).

"We saw some good things on the defensive side tonight," said head coach Allen McCreary. "It's nice to see when what you have been working on comes together. That was our focus this week at practice."

After exchanging 4-0 runs midway through the opening set, the teams found themselves locked at 20-20 and a critical sequence featuring a kill by junior outside hitter Mariana Figueroa Ferriera plus her block alongside junior middle blocker Carly Evetts set Academy of Art up to take the frame 25-22 on another Figueroa Ferriera kill.

Though UCSC had an advantage early in the second set, ART U took command with a 7-1 push capped by a kill from junior outside hitter Ashley Pawlak. Following a comeback by the Banana Slugs, the squads were tied 19-19 and every point thereafter before back-to-back kills by Claire Okerlund evened the match on a 26-24 win for UC Santa Cruz.

Tied late in set three, Academy of Art bounced back from a kill that put the home team up 21-20 by rallying with five unanswered points. Junior middle blocker Sadie Emery delivered a service ace midway through the rally and later combined with sophomore middle blocker Jillian Wheaton on the block to secure the 25-21 final set score.

The trend of back-and-forth play continued throughout the fourth frame as UCSC created slight separation on a 6-3 run from a 15-15 deadlock. ART U came within one point in the ensuing rallies, but the Banana Slugs kept the pressure on and ended up exchanging points all the way to a 25-22 victory to send the match to a decisive fifth set.

From an early 4-0 run bookended by kills from Emery to a 6-2 surge to gain an 11-6 advantage, Academy of Art had its offense step up in the final frame. The Urban Knights recorded kills on each of their final four points as Pawlak had the honors on a the match-ender at 15-10.

"The fifth set is a critical set," said McCreary. "You have to be able to get out early and be aggressive and were able to do that. It allowed us to do other things like serving tough and playing good defense to get the win. UC Santa Cruz is a good team and we had to put pressure on them."

Improving to 8-12 overall with its fourth win over the past five matches, ART U was paced by 13 kills apiece from Figueroa Ferriera and Pawlak. Both delivered double-doubles in the contest with Figueroa Ferriera's 29 digs marking the fifth-most in program history while Pawlak's 18 digs marked her fourth double-double in her last five matches. Evetts and Emery each finished with 12 kills with Evetts contributing five blocks (two solos) and Emery adding 10 digs. Wheaton's 11 kills rounded out the quintet of hitters with double-digit kills and sophomore setter Picabo Reinhold made it 14 double-doubles on 53 assists and 14 digs.

UCSC completed its regular season with a 13-14 overall record, taking the loss despite a match-high 18 kills along with 18 digs from Okerlund.

Academy of Art resumes PacWest play tomorrow with a 3 p.m. matchup hosting Fresno Pacific inside Kezar Pavilion.