Box Score

Rocklin, CA -- After defeating Southwestern College 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-13) at the Warrior Challenge, Academy of Art was awarded the championship trophy and did not drop a set in the tournament. Junior outside hitter Dan Yang, selected for All-Tournament honors, again posted a match-high 12 kills to go with nine digs and junior outside hitter Nicolette Hagan posted a season-high seven kills. With the win, AAU improves to 9-2 overall and Southwestern College falls to 6-6.

"Nicky played a great match stepping up and playing outside hitter," Head Coach Marcus Young said. "Phooey had another amazing tournament and she really carried the team with her hitting. As a group, our hitters had an outstanding match hitting .439 overall." 

Southwestern and Academy of Art remained close in the early part of the opening set, but after being tied 11-11, the Knights attempted to pull away with a 3-0 run. The Eagles responded, however, and the squads found themselves deadlocked again 17-17. From that point, Academy of Art opened up a 21-17 advantage and took the set 25-20.

The second set saw another close battle early on with the scoreboard reading 7-6. Strong serving in the form of eight service aces, three by sophomore middle blocker Amy Bush, helped the AAU surge through the set. The Urban Knights ended the second game and began the third on an impressive 18-4 run.

Out to the lead in the third set, Academy of Art pushed its advantage to 11 before Southwestern tried to slow AAU's momentum by calling timeout. However, Yang put away the Knights' next two points including a surprising left-handed kill and AAU took the match after the 25-13 set victory.

Three Knights posted hitting percentages higher than .535 as sophomore outside hitter Nicolette Hagan notched seven kills at a .538 clip, Bush finished with seven kills and a .600 percentage, and sophomore middle blocker Camille Board hit .556 with six kills. Junior libero Jelena Jakovljevic posted seven digs in her second match at the position this season and freshman setter Melissa Cheng added 33 assists.

The Eagles were led offensively by two players, middle blocker Caitlin Forrest and outside hitter Bethany Beckham, who each had five kills. Setter Meredith Oistad contributed 20 assists and four digs.

Academy of Art University is now set to finally return to San Francisco, CA for its home opener against Pacific Union College on Sept. 15. The match is set for 7:00 PM at Kezar Pavilion.