Box Score

San Rafael, CA – Continuing their road to the season's end, ART U Volleyball took a tough 3-1 loss (25-16, 25-22, 18-25, 25-22) to Dominican Thursday night inside the Conlan Recreation Center. Three double-doubles including a match-high 19 kills for sophomore Melissa Brum were not enough as the Penguins recovered from the Urban Knights' momentum shift in the third set and went on to win.

Coming off the high of their 'Senior Night' ceremony, Dominican was out of the gate hot, taking an 8-4 lead early. The Urban Knights halved their six-point deficit on multiple kills by Brum to make it 13-10, but the Penguins completed the opening set on a 12-6 run that featured four kills by Susanna Pilkerton. A 25-16 final favored Dominican to start.

A closely contested second set started with back-to-back kills by Brum and back-to-back service aces from senior Kanoe Irvine for a 6-2 ART U lead. The Penguins rallied back to come within a single point on multiple occasions before tying it 11-11. Six ties ensued en route to a 20-20 score from which Dominican capitalized on errors to go ahead 23-20. Although the Knights fought off one set point, the Penguins managed to take away a 25-22 victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.

It was a major swing in momentum midway through the third set that gave Academy of Art life. Down 8-5, ART U proceeded to unleash an 8-1 surge that eventually turned into a 14-3 push featuring more offense from a memorable night for freshman Bailey Soolsma. The Knights' largest margin, 19-11, came on Brum's kill off a set by junior Rachael Smith and Academy of Art fought off a Dominican comeback to earn a 25-18 third set win.

Set four was very close until a brief 5-2 run by the Penguins created a four-point margin that held up late into the frame. Seeing their opponent on the verge from entering the final stretch to victory at 19-13, ART U executed a 5-0 response highlighted by a kill and service ace from senior Brittany Ulmer. A timely 3-0 burst by Dominican was all they needed for late separation and eventually the 25-22 set victory.

Now 12-15 overall and 7-12 in PacWest, the Knights were led by Brum's 19 kills along with 10 digs for her 19th double-double this year. Smith also finished with double digits in a pair of categories, amassing 43 assists and 11 digs to go with four total blocks. Papale added ART U's third double-double in the form of 10 kills and 16 digs while Irvine added 13 digs. Soolsma went for a career-high eight kills along with six blocks.

Academy of Art now gears up for its season finale which comes on the road against Notre Dame de Namur this Saturday, Nov. 15. First serve is set for 7:00 PM inside Walter Gleason Gym in Belmont.