Box Score
Los Angeles, CA ----In Academy of Art University’s first match of the 2010 regular season, the Urban Knights dropped a close battle with Northwood University in five sets (23-25,25-23,17-25,25-21,11-15) as part of the Cal State LA/Cal Poly Pomona Tournament today. Senior outside hitter
Dan Yang led the way for ART U finishing with a match-high 22 kills along with a team-high 14 digs, while sophomore setter
Melissa Cheng dished out 41 assists in the Knights loss.
ART U battled hard with the Timberwolves, dropping the first set by just two points. Northwood started the match with a service ace and never relinquished the lead. Academy of Art earned their first point off a kill by
Yang. Three straight errors put the Urban Knights down 2-7 early in the contest. Fortunate errors by the Timberwolves and powerful hitting by ART U brought the Urban Knights to within one point, 20-21. However, that would be as close as they would get as Northwood closed the first set on a 4-2 run, 25-23.
ART U shook the first set jitters off and came out in the second set more focused. The tables had turned and it was the Urban Knights who were in control this time around. Aside from NU scoring the first point the Urban Knights regained the lead and never trailed. And, despite only registering 12 kills to the Timberwolves 14, the difference was in the nine errors that Northwood committed. Yang slammed down seven of her 22 kills during this set , including the final one that put ART U up, 25-23.
Much like in the first set it was Northwood University who jumped out to a 5-1 lead and never looked back. A service error on the next play gave the Urban Knights their second point, but NU rallied to go on an 8-5 run to put them up 7-13 midway through the third set. ART U was able to get within three points, 13-16, but the end was all Northwood as they won set three,17-25.
It looked as though the Urban Knights were finding their groove during the fourth set. Both teams battled hard and no team led by more than two points until late in the game. NU scored first but ART U answered back to tie the score at one each. The game saw 13 ties with the final one coming at 19-19. A kill by
Yang broke the tie for good and the Urban Knights pushed the match into a fifth and final set, winning 25-21.
ART U looked like as if they were going to run away with the match, cruising to a 6-1 lead early in the fifth. But, three attack errors and some powerful hitting by the Timberwolves gave Northwood a 9-7 lead over the Urban Knights. With the scored tied at 11 each, Northwood dug deep and scored the last four points to secure the win, 15-11.
Leading the way for the Timberwolves was Sladjana Mitrovic who finished with 21 kills and 11 digs. Sara Skornia added 14 kills, while Tatjana Rajic rounded out the group with 11 kills. Dishing it out for Northwood was Lauren Chapman, she finished with 45 assists on the night.
ART U's
Dan Yang had a breakout game, finishing the match with 22 kills and 14 digs. In her first game back,
Angela Heath had eight kills. Teammate
Amy Bush also registered eight kills and had three blocks.
Melissa Cheng finished with a team high 41 assists.
"I'm pretty happy with how the team played as whole. Our defense played much better today," said Young.
The Urban Knights return to the court tomorrow to play two matches, first against Cal Poly Pomona (11:00 AM) , followed by #14 Cal State LA (7:00 PM).
"Overall we are pleased with how we played, but we have to play better than we did if want beat tougher teams," Young concluded.