Match #15
ART U Urban Knights (6-8, 2-4 PWC) vs. Dominican Penguins (4-7, 1-4 PWC)
Wednesday, October 7, 2015 at 7 p.m.
San Rafael, Calif. – Conlan Recreation Center
Live Stats & Live Video | Live Audio

KNIGHTS TRAVEL ACROSS BRIDGE TO MEET PACWEST RIVAL
Continuing its matchups with local Pacific West Conference opponents, ART U takes on rival Dominican this week. The Urban Knights ride momentum from wins in back-to-back matches including a thrilling triumph over Notre Dame de Namur last Saturday.

FIRST SERVE
Academy of Art plays its lone PacWest Conference match of the week on Wednesday, Oct. 7 at Dominican's Conlan Recreation Center. First serve is set for 7 p.m. Live coverage will be available via the links above. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights on Twitter & Instagram and "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

KNIGHT WATCH
Only four teams in the PacWest Conference have a tandem among the top 15 in kills per set. For Academy of Art, freshman outside hitter Stine Raben and junior outside hitter Melissa Brum are averaging 3.6 kills and 3.36 kills per set respectively. Raben was named PacWest Freshman of the Week after registering career-highs of 18 kills against Holy Names and 17 digs versus NDNU. Brum posted a season-high 20 kills and added 13 digs against NDNU for her fourth double-double of the year. Sophomore middle blocker Margaret Winkler is one of five players in the PacWest averaging 1.00 or more blocks per set. She ranks third at 1.14 rejections. Following back-to-back matches of 40+ assists, senior setter Rachael Smith comes into Wednesday averaging 9.21 assists per set. Junior libero Kabrina Speakman amassed a career-high 26 digs in the five-set battle with NDNU and now ranks fifth in the PacWest with 4.39 digs per set.

POINTS ON THE PENGUINS
Like ART U, Dominican went 2-2 in the Route 92 Showdown to start the year and have since gone 2-5, coming into Wednesday with a 1-4 PacWest record. The Penguins lost all three of their matches in Hawaii, but most recently picked up their first conference victory on Oct. 3 at Holy Names. Responsible for more than a third of Dominican's total points, Aimee Steinwand ranks fourth in the PacWest with 4.15 kills per set. Defensively, the Penguins are led by Amanda Lee who enters Wednesday ranked second in the conference in digs per set (5.55). Academy of Art holds a 10-6 advantage in the all-time series against Dominican.

KNIGHTS OVERCOME NDNU IN FRONT OF HOME CROWD
Academy of Art University volleyball used the energy of a large "Battle of the Halls" home crowd to gain momentum and push past visiting Notre Dame de Namur 3-2 (25-16, 18-25, 22-25, 25-17, 15-12) on Oct. 3 inside Kezar Pavilion. A valiant defensive effort led by a career-high 26 digs from Speakman helped the Urban Knights rally from down 2-1 to eventually win the fifth set 15-12.

LOOKING AHEAD
ART U remains on the road next week, heading to Southern California to play Point Loma (Oct. 14) and Concordia (Oct. 15).