OAKLAND, Calif. – The first meeting of the season between Academy of Art volleyball and Holy Names  needed five sets to be determined and, despite a 2-1 lead for the Urban Knights midway through, it was the Hawks who emerged with the 3-2 (25-11, 21-25, 19-25, 25-16, 15-11) Pacific West Conference victory when the dust had settled inside Tobin Gymnasium on Tuesday.

Scoring the first four points of the match, HNU led for the entirety of the first set, establishing a 16-7 advantage before taking seven of the final eight points en route to a 25-11 win. That momentum was flipped quickly in the second set, however, as freshman middle blocker Hannah Richman put down three kills during a 9-5 start for the Urban Knights. Immediately after Holy Names came back to tie the set at 13-13, a 6-0 run highlighted by two kills from senior middle blocker/opposite Sadie Emery ended up being the difference. The Hawks made things close with a 5-0 push thereafter, but freshman outside hitter Ashley Mecham capped the 25-21 victory with the final three kills for ART U.

The closest set of the day came next as the teams initially traded 4-0 runs (Mecham delivered back-to-back service aces in the one for Academy of Art) before eight ties ensued. From 17-17, the Knights used a kill from Emery as well as a bock by Mecham and Richman to open up a three-point margin that was later extended by four straight scores, two on consecutive kills by Mecham and freshman outside hitter Katherine Von Kraut, toward a 25-19 victory.

Looking to end the match in the fourth set, ART U initially faced an uphill climb with HNU going ahead 7-4. Academy of Art steadily worked its way back to a two-point difference at 14-12 thanks to the 10th kill for sophomore outside hitter Annie Blumenstein, who was well on her way to a new career-high. The Hawks had other plans though and used a 11-4 surge down the stretch to even the match at two sets apiece with the 25-16 final.

Holy Names opened the decisive fifth set with a 7-2 run, but the Knights rallied with six of the next eight points including two kills from Von Kraut to shorten the gap to a single point at 11-10. In the end and following some 50-50 battles at the net, HNU managed to capture the final set 15-11.

Now 0-2 both overall and in PacWest play, Academy of Art was paced by 11 kills apiece from Blumenstein and Mecham. Blumenstein's total was a career-high and Mecham's came as part of a double-double with a team-high 18 digs. Emery added a season-best 10 kills while Von Kraut and Richman each posted nine kills apiece. Freshman setter Nina Garcia offered her own double-double with 46 assists and 10 digs.

Holy Names' first win of the season came with three Hawks registering double-digit kills led by Ayanna Barham's match-high 17.

The Urban Knights complete their first round through the three PacWest Conference Northern California teams this Friday, Mar. 26 when they host Dominican for a 4 p.m. first serve inside Walter Gleason Gym in Belmont.