Box Score Fresno, CA – A hard-fought match ended up going the way of Fresno Pacific on Saturday night as the Urban Knights fell to the Sunbirds 3-0 (26-24, 27-25, 25-12) inside FPU's Special Events Center. Fighting off multiple Fresno Pacific set points in the first two sets, Academy of Art just couldn't put enough points together down the stretch to swipe either.
With seven ties up through a 15-15 start to the first set, both sides knew they were in for a battle. A brief 4-0 run by the Sunbirds put them up 19-15, but the Knights used kills from sophomores
Melissa Brum and
Emily Papale as well as a service ace from senior
Kanoe Irvine to rally 5-1 and tie it at 20. Despite facing set point at 24-22, ART U responded with a pair of points to knot it 24-24. However, the home team prevailed 26-24 on kills by Rupia Inck and Gabriela Macedo.
The second set saw FPU go up 11-4, but a steady 9-4 response capped by back-to-back kills from Brum made it 15-13. Academy of Art continued its comeback and eventually tied things up 19-19. A 21-21 deadlock shifted towards ART U when junior
Rachael Smith set Brum to put the Knights up 23-21, but the Sunbirds would fight back and force another two set points before taking the frame 27-25.
Set three was close early and Academy of Art held an 11-9 advantage before Fresno Pacific unleashed a 16-1 run which earned them the 25-12 final and the match.
The Urban Knights are now 12-14 overall and 7-11 in PacWest play. Brum led the way with 12 kills while Papale added seven kills and 11 digs. Smith finished with 25 assists and Irvine contributed 16 digs in the contest.
ART U embarks upon its final week of play in 2014 with road games at Dominican (Nov. 13) and Notre Dame de Namur (Nov. 15) on tap.
