SAN FRANCISCO – An emotional end to two illustrious collegiate careers came Saturday afternoon inside Kezar Pavilion as Academy of Art celebrated its accomplished graduate student duo of outside hitter Amalie Rupertova and outside hitter/right side Maya McClellan with a 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 25-19, 22-25, 15-8) victory over Dominican in Pacific West Conference action. Finishing on an incredibly high note while adding plenty of stats all around, McClellan delivered a career-high 27 kills (third in ART U history) and Rupertova tied the program record for service aces in a single season with four on the day contributing to her 42 in 2023.

Following a pre-match ceremony honoring Rupertova and McClellan that was filled with love both locally and coming from as far as the Czech Republic, the Urban Knights found themselves with an uphill battle as the Penguins jumped out to a 9-3 lead. ART U would cut the difference to four points thereafter, but it was not until DUC threatened up 22-16 that Academy of Art executed a 7-1 run that featured kills by graduate student middle blocker Chandra Reed and McClellan, a service ace by Rupertova, and a block combining Reed and junior setter Elly McInerney. From a 23-23 tie, however, Dominican found the scores it needed for a 25-23 win.

ART U wasted no time gaining control of the second set as Rupertova sent across two service aces and put down a kill along with freshman middle blocker/outside hitter Alohi Garcia for a 4-0 run to a 7-4 advantage. The margin expanded to 13-7 when McClellan's kill mixed with a block by Rupertova and redshirt freshman middle blocker Zoe Arnold as well as a McClellan service ace yet DUC repeatedly fought back to come within a single point of the Knights as the frame continued. Junior right side Sofia Stemberga, Reed, and McClellan all came through with kills during what ended up a 6-2 surge to close the set with Academy of Art on top 25-20, evening the match.

The ART U offense had found its rhythm as five different Urban Knights recorded kills during an 8-3 start then two separate 4-0 pushes made it an 18-9 third set. During that second run, Rupertova tied the program record of 42 service aces, joining her with Ashley Pawlak (2019) and Kanoe Irvine (2014) to achieve the milestone. After building a 21-10 lead with several more kills by McClellan, Academy of Art had to endure a bit of a Penguins comeback before gaining a 2-1 advantage in the contest on a 25-19 final capped by Arnold's kill.

One of the closest sets of the afternoon, the fourth saw neither side ahead by more than three points until Dominican's 11-2 burst to move in front 23-17. ART U nearly executed a comeback with Rupertova and McClellan notching kills ahead of Stemberga and Reed's block for a 5-1 rebuttal, but the fifth set point for the Penguins was converted, forcing a fifth set after the 25-22 result.

Academy of Art was nearly flawless in the ensuing fifth set, putting away 13 kills to one error for a .500 hitting percentage as McClellan surged for three in a row during the 6-1 opening salvo. After briefly trading points, the Knights mixed it up with Rupertova, Arnold, and Garcia all swinging for kills before the final two kills of the 15-8 victory appropriately came from Rupertova and McClellan.

ART U finishes its season at 5-22 overall and 4-16 in PacWest matchups. Fittingly, McClellan and Rupertova led the way as the former sent down a career-high 27 kills which ranked third in program history behind only Melissa Brum's 31 (Oct. 1, 2014) and Dan Yang's 28 (Sept. 6, 2008). McClellan added 13 digs for her 14th double-double of 2023, two blocks, and two service aces. Rupertova finished with nine kills, 13 digs, two blocks, and four service aces. Alohi Garcia totaled 14 kills for a new season best to go with seven digs and three blocks while Reed contributed eight kills as well as five blocks. McInerney's 30 assists led the squad, Arnold had six blocks (including two solos), and freshman libero LC-Reece Nakagawa's 21 digs made her the seventh Urban Knight to date with 400 digs in a single season.

Dominican wraps up the year 1-26 overall and 1-19 in conference play. A 16-kill effort from Avery Schneider led the Penguins along with Camille Rivers' 26 assists and Miekayla Surnip's 27 digs.

This concludes the 2023 campaign for Academy of Art volleyball. For the latest news and information, and the upcoming season in review, check out www.ARTUAthletics.com.