SAN FRANCISCO – Riding the momentum of victories over Hawaii Pacific and California Baptist, Academy of Art University volleyball made it three wins in a row with a 3-1 triumph over Azusa Pacific on Saturday inside Kezar Pavilion. Senior setter Rachael Smith highlighted the contest with her 4,000th career assist.

After ART U broke an 8-8 tie with a quick 3-0 burst in the first set, the Urban Knights never looked back. The Cougars would come to within one point on multiple occasions, but kills by junior Melissa Brum and sophomore middle blocker Amorelle Applin kept APU at bay. En route to a 25-21 set victory, Academy of Art took four of the last five points starting with Applin and sophomore outside hitter Bailey Soolsma each slamming down points.

In the second set, Academy of Art quickly got ahead 4-1 after back-to-back kills by Brum then maintained that margin well into the frame. Azusa Pacific eventually came back to tie the match 15-15, but sophomore outside hitter Bailey Soolsma sparked a 4-0 Knights rally, however, the teams found themselves knotted 23-23 down the stretch. At that point, Smith found freshman outside hitter Stine Raben for two consecutive spikes and ART U prevailed 25-23 for the two-set advantage.

The third set turned the way of the Cougars with a 5-0 run to put the visitors ahead 12-7. From there, a stretch of seven Azusa Pacific scores in eight points was enough to propel APU to take a 25-15 victory. That momentum would carry into a 7-2 Cougars lead in the fourth set, but a steady 9-4 response soon tied things at 11-11. Neither side gained much of an advantage as the teams tied seven times from 18-18 in a dramatic sequence down the stretch. In the end, it was a Brum kill followed by an APU attack error that ended the set 30-28 and the match 3-1 with Academy of Art on top.

ART U rises to 9-17 overall and 5-13 in conference play with the win. Brum finished with a team-high 19 kills and 17 digs for her fourth double-double in her past five matches (10th of the season). Smith had her third straight double-double by way of 46 assists and 10 digs, upping her career assist total to 4,011 after reaching the milestone early in the fourth set. Versatility on offense saw Raben deliver 10 kills, Applin and freshman middle blocker Safua Elisaia post eight kills apiece (Elisaia contributed seven blocks as well), and Soolsma add seven kills. Junior libero Kabrina Speakman matched her career-high with 26 digs.

The loss drops Azusa Pacific below .500 at 13-14 overall and 9-9 in the PacWest. Mattie Shelford posted a match-high 20 kills for the Cougars.

Approaching the final week of its 2015 season, Academy of Art faces Fresno Pacific (Nov. 19) on the road then hosts Dominican (Nov. 21) in another rematch for Senior Day.