BELMONT, Calif. – Less than 24 hours from defeating Dominican 3-1, Academy of Art volleyball again tasted victory, besting Holy Names 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-18) on Saturday afternoon inside Walter Gleason Gym. Balanced play both offensively and defensively was highlighted by four different Urban Knights logging two block assists apiece as ART U posted a tough wall at the net.

"I think our keys both yesterday and today were being able to adapt in game play," said Head Coach Allen McCreary. "Our team did a good job making the switch faster and we were thus more able to score points. We're scoring in different areas of the game and that makes it more of a team win."

Coming in with nearly identical records, the two teams went back-and-forth relatively equally to start. Following a 6-1 Urban Knights run that saw senior middle blocker/opposite Sadie Emery and freshman outside hitter Ashley Mecham team up for back-to-back blocks, HNU came back to tie things at 9-9. Academy of Art then worked its way back in front over a 6-3 push with three straight kills from redshirt junior Celena Davison over one stretch. Though the Hawks cut the margin to a single point multiple times thereafter, a Davison kill then the combination block from freshman outside hitter Katherine Von Kraut and junior middle blocker Jillian Wheaton finished the 25-22 victory.

"That was our best blocking match of the year and, though we're not known for that, but we've been working on it in practice," McCreary said. "For our block-oriented approach, we really want to set a good block and play defense behind it."

An early rally from the visitors had them ahead 8-4 to begin the second set, but an 8-2 ART U rebuttal featured four kills from Mecham to get her squad back on top 13-11. The lead soon grew to five after a 7-2 surge and the Knights were again able to fend off a potential HNU comeback with Mecham continuing to swing true and Wheaton adding a kill down the stretch to a 25-20 final.

Mecham, Davison, and others worked in tandem to help Academy of Art build an 14-7 advantage in the third and, while the scoreboard read 16-13 thanks to a small Hawks comeback, kills by Emery, Wheaton, and Davison were at the forefront of a 6-2 run that had the Knights just three points from ending the contest at 22-15. Von Kraut kills would account for two of those final scores and Davison punctuated the 25-18 win to secure the afternoon's sweep.

The Knights elevate to 7-14 overall and 4-9 in PacWest action with the victory. Double-doubling for the third straight contest and 12th time this season, Mecham posted 11 kills and 13 digs while Davison led ART U with 12 kills and Von Kraut added 11 kills of her own. Junior setter Picabo Reinhold finished with her second consecutive double-double in the form of 34 assists and 10 digs. Freshman libero Elena Torres paced Academy of Art with 16 digs, junior outside hitter Isaura Santos had 10 digs, and pairs of blocks came from Emery, Wheaton, Mecham, and Von Kraut.

Holy Names drops to 6-16 on the year and 3-11 against conference opponents despite 11 kills from Fanny Chow and 10 off the hand of Lauren Sera. Cassidy Simon led all players with 18 digs.

ART U departs the Bay Area for the final time this season next week with a three-part roadtrip to Hawaii to rematch UH Hilo (Nov. 4), Chaminade (Nov. 6), and Hawaii Pacific (Nov. 7).

"We're playing as a unit right now which helps which definitely helps us going into that trip," McCreary said. "It's a business trip for us and we are focused on that."