Box Score

Kaneohe, HI – On Halloween night inside Saint Andrew's Priory, there was no disguising the tremendous effort put in by both sides in Pacific West Conference volleyball action between Academy of Art and Hawaii Pacific. The rematch was an emotional rollercoaster ride that eventually ended with HPU on top 3-2 (25-18, 21-25, 25-13, 27-25, 15-8).

In the first set, HPU jumped out to a 10-2 lead and was eventually up 21-8. Back-to-back attack errors coupled with a kill by sophomore Emily Papale gave ART U life and the Knights rallied back. Using a key kill by junior Isabel Emrich and the service ace by senior Kanoe Irvine that would tie the program's single-season record, Academy of Art came as close as 22-17 before the home team wound up prevailing 25-18.

The Urban Knights took a quick 4-2 lead in the second set and, after three ties, pushed ahead 10-7 on a kill by sophomore Melissa Brum and a HPU attack error. From 14-13, however, Academy of Art held tough and used a 6-0 surge to create some separation with junior Rachael Smith mixing in effective attacks and getting her team a 25-21 set victory to even the match.

After Hawaii Pacific worked its way ahead to an 8-3 lead, the home squad never looked back, winning set three 25-13 and going up 2-1. The Knights would again face a deficit early in the fourth frame, but this time they responded by steadily working to an 18-18 tie on Papale's kill. Though the Sharks threatened, a big block by freshman Margaret Winkler and Brum helped ART U retie it 23-23 and two more ties would ensue before a Brum kill combined with a HPU attack error to force the fifth set on ART U's 27-25 victory.

The final frame favored Hawaii Pacific early on as they assumed a 5-1 lead. However, Academy of Art did not give in so easily and fought back with a 4-1 rally capped by an unusual kill from Papale that rolled along the net and dropped in. Just a little too much ground to make up would result in the Sharks taking away a 15-8 set victory and the match 3-2.

For Academy of Art (11-12, 6-9 PacWest), Papale led the way with 14 kills while Emrich and Brum each had 11 apiece. Smith finished with her second consecutive double-double, this one in the form of 39 assists and 13 digs. Additionally, sophomore Kabrina Speakman had her second double-digit dig night, totaling 12 defensively while Irvine became the program's new single-season service aces leader with two more and nine digs.

ART U completes its Hawaii roadtrip tomorrow evening in Laie with a 7:30 PM HST (10:30 PM PST) first serve against #5 BYU-Hawaii, who is #3 in the West Region in the most recent NCAA regional rankings.