HONOLULU – The final stop on Academy of Art volleyball's Hawaii roadtrip was a hard-fought one as Hawaii Pacific barely bettered the Urban Knights 3-2 (16-25, 26-24, 15-25, 25-21, 16-14) despite ART U's one-set lead during the Pacific West Conference rematch inside The Shark Tank on Sunday night.

After going ahead 3-1 to start, Academy of Art never looked back, holding the lead for the entirety of the opening set. Graduate student outside hitter Amalie Rupertova, who had seven kills in the opening set, continuously played parts in ART U's rallies, joining graduate student middle blocker Chandra Reed and graduate student outside hitter/right side Maya McClellan in sending down kills to initiate a 6-0 run toward a 20-13 advantage. The frame ended with Academy of Art on top 25-16 by way of a 5-1 push highlighted by kills from freshman outside hitter/right side Crystal Creek, Rupertova, and McClellan.

The Knights fought back against HPU's 4-0 start to the second set with consecutive kills by freshman middle blocker/outside hitter Alohi Garcia and junior setter Elly McInerney. Creek and Garcia put-aways then sandwiched a McInerney service ace to force an 11-11 tie and, after both sides held brief leads, an eventual 24-24 deadlock was broken during three straight points from the Sharks en route to their 26-24 match-evening set victory.

Multiple blocks and kills by Reed were among the scores during ART U's 8-1 initial lead in the third frame and, though Hawaii Pacific came as close as 12-8, kills by McClellan combined with HPU miscues for a 21-14 margin that was later finished 25-16 on a block by redshirt freshman middle blocker Zoe Arnold, capping a 4-1 run.

Repeatedly tied with Academy of Art throughout the first half of the fourth set, the Sharks connected on two kills to break from 15-15 and eventually moved further ahead on a 3-0 burst. Rupertova and Garcia swung for kills to keep the Knights close, but Hawaii Pacific managed to prevail 25-21, forcing a fifth frame.

A 4-2 deficit was turned into a 6-4 advantage as McClellan put down a kill then served up two aces during the 4-0 push, but the fifth set's fourth deadlock ensued. The action remained extremely close, seeing 10 ties in the set overall, until a Sharks set point at 15-14 was fended off by another McClellan kill. From 14-14, however, a kill and attack error abruptly ended the match in HPU's favor 16-14.

Falling to 4-22 on the year and 3-16 in conference play, ART U had McClellan deliver her 13th double-double of the season with 22 kills and 11 digs while Rupertova logged her 11th double-double on the strength of 15 kills and 14 digs. Garcia finished with nine kills, Reed had eight, and McInerney paced the squad with 26 assists. Junior setter Lina Ellilä posted her fifth double-double of 2023 with 18 assists and 14 digs, but the team's digs leader was once again freshman libero LC-Reece Nakagawa who amassed 17 on the night.

Hawaii Pacific improves to 4-19 overall and 4-15 versus PacWest opponents while getting 14 kills and 13 digs from Lindsey Tapp as well as 27 assists from Pua Beazley and 22 digs from Kylie Komo.

The Urban Knights' final match of the season will be next as Academy of Art hosts Dominican for Senior Day inside Kezar Pavilion on Nov. 18 at 2 p.m.