TURLOCK, Calif. – Academy of Art Volleyball stepped onto the court for its first game action of the season Friday in the NorCal Volleyball Classic on the campus of Stanislaus State. The Urban Knights showed stretches of strong play, but the opening contest saw Sonoma State prevail 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-21) over the ART U before Chico State defeated Academy of Art 3-0 (25-9, 25-13, 25-18).
"In match one, we struggled with our serve receive and the team was nervous," said head coach
Allen McCreary. "Sonoma State was a tough team to open play with on our first weekend. Though we are still trying to find ourselves, I felt in our second match with Chico that we did progress in the right direction."
MATCH 1 – SSU 3, ART U 0
Junior opposite
Kiersten Kerch provided the first two kills for Academy of Art in the opening set, but a 6-1 Seawolves run created initial separation. That was answered by a 4-1 surge that began with a kill from redshirt senior middle blocker
Safua Elisaia and also featured a service ace by freshman setter
Picabo Reinhold. Another 5-0 push from Sonoma State was again rebutted by a 4-1 ART U response, but five of the final six points went the way of SSU and resulted in a 25-15 final.
Set two began with the Seawolves gaining a 10-3 advantage only to extend that with seven unanswered points. Elisaia and freshman middle hitter
Jillian Wheaton each provided kills during a 4-0 run from the Knights late, but Sonoma State ended up prevailing 25-13.
Like the second frame, SSU was ahead 6-1 at the start of the third set, but Academy of Art came back with four of the next five points including a service ace and kill from sophomore outside hitter
Ashley Pawlak. The set remained close from then on and multiple kills from Kerch along with Wheaton and sophomore middle blocker
Sadie Emery led to two ties midway through. The momentum shift came when the Seawolves rattled off five straight to force match point which ART U denied three times before falling 25-21.
MATCH 2 – CHICO 3, ART U 0
Even in the early going after three kills and a service ace from Pawlak, the score was 9-6 in favor of the Wildcats before Chico State pushed further ahead by way of a 7-0 run. Nine of the final 11 points belonged to the Wildcats and the final set score was 25-9.
The teams traded runs in the first stretch, but a 9-2 Chico State surge put them in front before a kill from junior middle blocker
Jennifer Argelander sparked a 5-1 Academy of Art response. The Wildcats' lead was cut down to five, but they ended up gaining a 2-0 advantage following an 8-1 close to the frame 25-13.
Two separate 5-0 pushes by the Wildcats contributed to a 15-8 margin, but the Knights would fight back with three kills from Emery amid a 5-1 counter. ART U was within three points entering the set's final stretch, but Chico State ended up taking five of the last six for a 25-18 victory and the sweep.
Emery finished the day as the Knights' kills leader in with nine in the second contest while Kerch led with eight in the first. Reinhold had 18 assists in the opening match and senior setter
Alana Lucas added 11 in the second. Defensively, Pawlak posted 12 digs to start and sophomore defensive specialist had a team-high 10 to end the day.
Academy of Art returns to Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena tomorrow for the conclusion of the NorCal Volleyball Classic with a 3 p.m. match against Humboldt State followed by a 7 p.m. nightcap versus tournament host Stanislaus State.
