Box Score
San Francisco, CA -- The Urban Knights continued a rough stretch with a 3-0 loss to Grand Canyon on Tuesday night, seeming to just be missing one more thing to putting it all together. Unlike last week's opponent Cal Baptist, the 'Lopes (10-6, 4-4 PWC) saw a very different Academy of Art squad, as the first two sets were very much like the Knights squad from earlier this season.
Academy of Art scored more points on Tuesday than they had in the previous three matches, and had an outstanding performance from senior middle blocker Camille Board, who had 10 kills and a .368 hitting percentage. Leanani Keanini threw in 11 kills and 8 digs for the Knights, and setter Melissa Cheng had 30 assists. Libero Midori Le had 14 digs in a solid defensive effort, and Angela Heath added 11 digs of her own.
Head coach Allison Magner introduced some knew wrinkles in the offense for the Knights, and their effectiveness was apparent in the first two sets, as the Knights battled hard with GCU. Neither team was able to build a big lead in the first set, with nine ties, the latest coming at 15-15. It was similar in the second set, with eight ties, the latest at 18-18.
A big part of that offensive effort was Cheng's ability to read the blockers, and Magner again had high praise for her setter's ability to step back into the fold and contribute in a big way.
"Melissa's understanding of who I am as a coach and how I like to run things has helped tremendously," Magner said. "I like to run an intricate, spicy offense and she and I have been able to go to the whiteboard over and over and you could really see that put into play and implemented tonight."
It seemed that losing the second set took all the wind out of the Knights sails, and any momentum that they had built up over the first two sets quickly faded into a 14-25 third game. The 'Lopes had a couple big contributions to extend ART U's losing streak to six. Stephanie McBride (12 kills, .522 HP) and Janae Giles (11 kills, .500 HP) were a one-two punch that the Knights couldn't figure out.
