LAIE, Hawaii – Going up against a new-look BYU-Hawaii team after their 2014 NCAA Championship run, Academy of Art University volleyball could not find its rhythm and wound up dropping the match 3-0. Sophomore outside hitter Bailey Soolsma emerged with a strong performance on the offensive end, but the Seasiders used too many weapons to earn the sweep.

"I thought the biggest difference today was our inexperience," said head coach Ray Batalon. "We fell behind early and lost our composure. We were starting to press and got outside of the things that we've been doing so well as of late. BYU-Hawaii has a lot of very experienced volleyball players and we never really put any pressure on them from the service line at all like we talked about. They ran their transition offense effectively and we couldn't stop their hitters."

After the Knights answered their opponent's match-opening run, BYUH used an 11-1 surge to create separation en route to a 25-9 victory. Academy of Art came out strong in the second set, going ahead 6-3 thanks to kills by sophomore middle blocker Amorelle Applin and Soolsma as well as multiple blocks by sophomore middle blocker Margaret Winkler. Another 10-1 run, however, gave the home team its edge for a two-set lead after the 25-17 result.

When the push came once again in the third set and BYUH went up 18-8 after six unanswered, the Knights did their best to fight back, but the offensive versatility of the Seasiders was too much and a 25-16 final completed the sweep.

ART U moves to 4-8 overall and 0-4 in conference play, but saw Soolsma turn in eight kills on 17 swings and a .412 hitting percentage. Junior libero Kabrina Speakman finished with 12 digs, junior outside hitter Melissa Brum added 10, and Winkler amassed five blocks.

BYU-Hawaii moves closer to .500 with the win as they now sport a 5-6 record and are undefeated through three PacWest matches. Kathleen Collette Kalougata carried the match-high in kills (12) along with 12 digs, Leilani Adolpho put up 11 kills, and two other Seasiders had seven kills apiece.

With its Hawaii roadtrip complete, Academy of Art now returns to San Francisco to begin a two-part homestand that features the Knights' home opener against Holy Names on Oct. 1 then a rematch with NDNU on Oct. 3. The weekend match will be a special Battle of the Halls event – to sign up for the Fan Bus, click here!

"It'll be be nice to play in familiar territory and to finally play at home," said Batalon. "I'm looking forward to the progress we're making even with today's setback. I think we're on the verge of breaking through and being at home will help us turn the tide."