The 2015 Academy of Art University volleyball season was one of growth as significant progress was made from the start of the year to its end under new head coach Ray Batalon. The Urban Knights worked their way through ups and downs, achieved career milestones, then finished the year on a high note, winning four of their final five matches.

"This season was a big learning experience for us," said Batalon.  "We struggled for a majority of the year finding an identity for ourselves. We had a lot of close sets with many of the teams, but had trouble closing them out."

ART U opened its campaign with a thrilling five-set victory over Montana State-Billings as part of the Route 92 Showdown. After being appointed to head coach following Ed Jackson's departure to Sacramento State, Batalon's first win featured a breakout performance from new addition Stine Raben whose 16 kills helped propel her to the Pacific West Conference Freshman of the Week honors. The Knights would finish the opening tournament 2-2 after falling to Stanislaus State, fighting back to overcome Cal State Monterey Bay 3-2, and dropping a 3-0 match to Chico State.

In Seattle the next week, Academy of Art rattled off 3-1 victories over MSU-Billings and Alaska on day one (Sept. 10) of the PacWest-GNAC Crossover. Raben and junior outside hitter Melissa Brum debuted the one-two punch they would soon become as the Knights once again split, taking losses to tournament host Seattle Pacific and Simon Fraser to even their non-conference record at 4-4.

The Urban Knights remained competitive in their start of PacWest play on Sept. 19 at Notre Dame de Namur, but took four tough losses as they traveled through three of the conference's Hawaii schools on the road. The stretch included a rollercoaster ride at UH Hilo on Sept. 24 in which ART U had a 2-1 set advantage, but could not hold on.

Having been on the road for the first month of the season, Academy of Art was reenergized returning home in October and it showed in their first two matches inside Kezar Pavilion. On Oct. 1, the Knights quickly defeated Holy Names 3-0, led by double-digit kill efforts from Raben, Brum, and sophomore outside hitter Bailey Soolsma. Two days later, ART U exacted revenge on NDNU, triumphing over the Argonauts in an emotional five-set battle surrounded by a large "Battle of the Halls" home crowd.

Academy of Art then headed out on the road once more, traveling to Southern California and Utah to continue PacWest play and eventually challenge PacWest champion Dixie State. After their two home wins, six of the Knights' next seven matches came against teams in the upper tier of the conference standings including a road-home pair with Concordia and Point Loma. Though ART U exited the stretch winless, an exciting home sequence was on the horizon.

The month of October finished in Oakland at Holy Names with a match that would be an important turning point for the Knights. Fighting into the fifth set led by impressive play from the entire roster and freshman middle blocker Safua Elisaia in particular, Academy of Art had three chances to win, but the Hawks ultimately prevailed 3-2. Though a heartbreaker, the loss set up ART U to bounce back with some major achievements in its homestand that followed.

On Nov. 5 against Chaminade, Brum began the home series by becoming just the second player in Academy of Art history to post 1,000 career kills. Two days after that historic night, the Knights used three double-doubles, Brum (15 kills, 21 digs), Elisaia (12 kills, 10 blocks), and senior setter Rachael Smith (51 assists, 14 digs), to hold off Hawaii Pacific 3-2 in a grudge match from six weeks prior.

"I thought the big turnaround came after the Holy Names match late in the year," said Batalon. "That loss was a gut-check for us. After that, we made a pledge as a team to turn up our effort level. We saw glimpses of it in our match with Chaminade with a couple of tight sets, but then, the Hawaii Pacific match showed that if we continually gave our best effort, good things would happen. As a result, we rode that momentum and closed out the year on a positive note."

ART U then faced California Baptist on Nov. 13 and made it two consecutive years the Knights prevailed over a strong Lancer team in San Francisco. The offense was once again spread around as that became a hallmark of Academy of Art University's success down the stretch. The win streak was pushed to three matches with another 3-1 victory hosting Azusa Pacific on Nov. 14. That contest saw junior libero Kabrina Speakman amass a career-high 26 digs, five different Knights register seven or more kills, and Smith achieve her milestone 4,000th career assist.

Following its final road match at Fresno Pacific, ART U returned home one final time to honor seniors Isabel Emrich and Rachael Smith prior to a rematch with PacWest rival Dominican on Nov. 21. Senior Day featured productive efforts up and down the roster highlighted by Brum's season-high 25 kills and Smith's fifth consecutive double-double (44 assists, 18 digs) to close her collegiate career.

"I can't thank the seniors enough for the commitment they made to our program," said Batalon. "They've endured quite a bit of change here and I'm glad that they were able to finish their careers on a high note."

Along with the seniors being recognized at the season's end, Brum earned All-PacWest Third Team honors, marking her third consecutive conference postseason award. Academy of Art now shifts its attention to 2016 in which they return a large portion of the roster to continue the momentum gained at the end of 2015.

"Moving forward, I'm very excited about the future of our program," said Batalon. "We learned a lot of valuable lessons this season and we gained some much needed confidence going into next year. Winning four of our last five matches made us aware that when we put in our best effort we can compete at a high level. I can't wait for us to start our season once again this spring. We have a good core of players returning who are determined to make their mark in the conference."