SAN FRANCISCO – Ushering in a new chapter under first-year Head Coach Breann Robinson, Academy of Art volleyball's 2022 campaign was highlighted by multiple victories in Hawaii, program milestones, taking both sides of the season series with Dominican, a sweep of Biola late in the year, and ultimately a new ART U single-season record in service aces per set (1.67).

Four matches in two days of the Otter Invitational began the Urban Knights' season on Aug. 26 and Aug. 27 with the final contest against Cal State Dominguez Hills requiring five sets as sophomore right side Katherine Von Kraut broke out for a career-high 19 kills and the graduate student outside hitter tandem of Amalie Rupertova and Maya McClellan added their first double-doubles of the season despite the loss.

Academy of Art then opened the month of September with its second non-conference tournament, the three-day Seawolves/Penguins Classic (Sept. 1, Sept. 2, Sept. 3), which concluded with another five-set matchup, but this one an ART U victory 3-2 over Chico State. The weekend's final pairing featured two more double-doubles from Rupertova and McClellan while senior libero Isaura Santos offered 25 digs for what would be her second-highest total of the season.

After concluding non-conference play with a match at Stanislaus State on Sept. 6, the Knights hosted Point Loma (Sept. 9) and Concordia for not only their first Pacific West Conference matches, but also their first two home matches of the year. Versus CUI on Sept. 10, Academy of Art resiliently fought all the way back to an eventual match point before the Eagles achieved the 3-2 win on a 16-14 final set. The evening featured 39 digs from Santos to break the program's single-match record while McClellan led all Knights with a season-best 23 kills.

After meeting eventual PacWest Champion Chaminade to start its Hawaii roadtrip on Sept. 16, ART U rattled off two dramatic five-set wins over Hawaii Pacific (Sept. 17) and UH Hilo (Sept. 19). The first had Academy of Art rally back against a two-set deficit as three Knights posted 13 or more kills toward the team's collective .263 hitting percentage and a 16-14 triumph in the final frame. Two days later, ART U and the Vulcans were tied no fewer than 10 times in each of the first three sets before a late push to the 15-11 last set with 61 assists on 64 kills ultimately resulted in another win for the Knights.

Back on the mainland for the remainder of the year, Academy of Art took its first tour of the PacWest's Bay Area segment, battling Fresno Pacific (Sept. 24) and Holy Names (Sept 26) before closing September with another five-set victory hosting Dominican. The Sept. 29 contest see-sawed before ART U nearly doubled the Penguins' score with a 15-8 dominant fifth frame that ended with the Knights' season-highs in both kills (67) and assists (64). Junior setter Elly McInerney contributed across the board in the match, totaling a season-best 48 assists with nine digs, five kills, no errors, and two blocks.

Upon finishing its homestand with Azusa Pacific (Oct. 5) and Biola (Oct. 8), Academy of Art traveled to Southern California for rematches with PLNU (Oct. 14) and CUI (Oct. 15) then had McClellan off to an incredible start with no errors to her 14 kills against HNU (Oct. 22), but the Hawks would rally late for the win. The road stretch would wrap up with ART U back in the win column on Oct. 24 after Rupertova and McClellan combined for 36 kills in a 3-1 victory over DU to sweep the season series.

The Urban Knights would promote breast cancer awareness with their "Dig Pink" match hosting FPU on Oct. 29 then one last trip to Southern California brought rematches with APU (Nov. 3) and BU (Nov. 4). Things ended on an exciting note as Academy of Art shocked the Eagles on their home court with a 3-0 sweep featuring ART U's highest hitting percentage of the season (.337) with a remarkable .625 mark coming in the third set alone.

A busy final week of the season had the Knights back in the Bay Area to host the conference's three Hawaii schools. Though Academy of Art claimed the first set against UH Hilo on Nov. 7, the Vulcans managed to outlast their opposition in the end. Following a Nov. 9 rematch with CUH, ART U celebrated its two seniors, Santos and middle blocker Jillian Wheaton, on Senior Day against HPU (Nov. 12). The tandem combined for 17 kills in the match and, despite the loss, Wheaton wrapped up as the program's career leader in hitting percentage at .325 over five seasons.

For a team that set the ART U single-season record for service aces per set (1.67) with program's third-most service aces (172), PacWest postseason honors were bestowed upon Rupertova and McClellan when the year was complete. Representing the only pair of student-athletes from one team inside the conference's top seven in kills per set and responsible for a combined 18 double-doubles plus 58 service aces, the graduate student duo each garnered places on the All-PacWest Second Team. Additionally, Wheaton earned a College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selection to close out her career.

Looking to build from its successes in 2022, Academy of Art volleyball prepares to rise to new heights in the 2023 campaign ahead.