Academy of Art Sweeps Kentucky Wesleyan, Rematch With UAA Coming Tonight

Anchorage, AK -- The Urban Knights women's volleyball team stayed undefeated in the Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational with a straight sets win against Kentucky Wesleyan (25-16, 25-14, 25-13) on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex. Junior outside hitter Jelena Jakovljevic posted a match-high 10 kills with a .474 hitting percentage and sophomore libero Nicolette Hagan had another strong defensive match with 12 digs.

"We took control of each set and didn't look back," Head Coach Marcus Young. "The team had an excellent hitting match especially with Jelena. We also served very well."

Academy of Art University took the first set after an 8-0 run midway through and cruised to a 25-16 victory. The second set was more of the same as AAU went on three separate 4-0 pushes and finished with consecutive kills by Dan Yang.

In the third set, the Knights came out strong and established a 5-2 advantage and never relinquished the lead en route to a 25-13 win.

Academy of Art dominated the Panthers in nearly every category including a .338-.090 margin in hitting percentage and out dug KWC 35-27. Freshman setter Melissa Cheng put up a match-high 26 assists and sophomore right side Angela Heath finished with a team-high four service aces along with six digs.

For the Panthers, outside hitter Emily Harpenau led the squad with seven kills and setter Sarah Pedigo backed her up with six kills to go with five digs. Outside hitter Morgan Watson also contributed six digs.

With the victory, AAU will now look ahead to the Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational championship match versus University Alaska Anchorage which will take place at 7:00 PM (8:00 PM PST) tonight. It will be a rematch after the teams went five sets last night and the Urban Knights came out on top with a 15-10 win in the final set.

"We are really looking forward to the match tonight," Coach Young said. "It's going to be a battle the entire way."

As it is against the host Seawolves, this match can be seen online here (click on the UAA Volleyball Live Video Feed link on the right side of the page).