Match #17
ART U Urban Knights (2-14, 1-8 PacWest) vs. Concordia Golden Eagles (7-8, 3-4 PacWest)
Friday, October 13, 2023 at 7 p.m.
Irvine, Calif. – CU Arena
Live Stats | Live Video

Match #18
ART U Urban Knights (2-14, 1-8 PacWest) vs. Westmont Warriors (6-9, 3-5 PacWest)
Saturday, October 14, 2023 at 7 p.m.
Montecito, Calif. – Murchison Gymnasium
Live Stats | Live Video

FIRST PAIRING WITH CUI, REMATCH WITH WARRIORS ON TAP
With its six-match Pacific West Conference homestand now in its rearview, Academy of Art volleyball travels down to Southern California for the second time this season to challenge Concordia and Westmont this weekend.

FIRST SERVE
ART U's first road match since mid-September has the Urban Knights facing Concordia on Friday, Oct. 13 inside CU Arena in Irvine. Academy of Art then takes on Westmont the following evening on Saturday, Oct. 14. Both matches are set to begin at 7 p.m. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights via the athletics app (Apple App Store, Google Play Store) and on Twitter & Instagram, as well as "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

KNIGHT WATCH
Like they did for much of the 2022 season, Academy of Art's graduate student duo of outside hitter/right side Maya McClellan (3.52) and outside hitter Amalie Rupertova (2.62) both appear in the PacWest's top 10 in terms of kills per set. McClellan adds the sixth-highest points per set average (3.96) in the conference and paces the Urban Knights with nine double-doubles as her 2.81 digs per set are third on the squad. With an average of 2.84 digs per set, Rupertova has seven double-doubles to her name and she (3.05) along with McClellan (3.08) are two of just six Knights to deliver over 3.00 kills per set in their careers thus far. Coming off her second match with four service aces this season, junior setter Elly McInerney has risen to sixth in the PacWest at 0.39 service aces per set while her 6.11 assists per set remain third. Freshman libero LC-Reece Nakagawa holds an active streak of six consecutive matches with double-digit digs and she can be found eighth in the PacWest with 3.42 digs per set.

EXAMINING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
In what has been an up and down year for Concordia, the Golden Eagles went 3-1 in their first tournament, 1-3 in the second, then began PacWest play 3-1 (including a victory over No. 12 Chaminade) before losing three consecutive matches to Biola, Point Loma, and Azusa Pacific heading into this Friday's pairing with ART U. CUI ranks second in the conference in digs per set (15.86) as well as third in kills (12.52) and assists (11.57) per set with Kirra Schulz in the top spot in terms of kills per set (3.76) as well as third in points (4.21) and 10th in digs (3.00) per set. Though Academy of Art swept the two matches in 2019, Concordia remains in front 10-2 historically.

WEEKEND WARRIORS
Since its 3-2 victory over the Knights on Sept. 23, Westmont has gone 1-3 with three more five-set matches that included a win over Biola. The Warriors, who match up with Dominican on Oct. 13, can be found in the middle of several conference statistical categories while the tandem of Alexis Dennick (.333) and Taylor Distelberg (.313) rank third and fifth in the PacWest in hitting percentage. Distelberg adds the conference's second-highest blocks per set average (1.22) as well. The two teams' earlier meeting has the historical matchup favoring Westmont 1-0 over ART U.

ACES, BLOCKS NOT ENOUGH FOR ACADEMY OF ART VERSUS VULCANS
Academy of Art volleyball returned to Kezar Pavilion to finish its current six-match Pacific West Conference homestand on Oct. 7 and, though the Urban Knights tied their season high with 12 service aces and added their second-highest block total (10) of the season, it was UH Hilo who emerged with the 3-1 (25-21, 25-16, 23-25, 25-19) victory.

LOOKING AHEAD
Though ART U's final home match of the season awaits in November, the Urban Knights will be back inside Kezar Pavilion next week to host three PacWest Southern California opponents in Azusa Pacific (Oct. 20), Point Loma (Oct. 21), and Concordia (Oct. 23).