San Francisco, CA – Thursday night's Pacific West Conference volleyball battle saw Azusa Pacific capture a 3-1 (25-20, 17-25, 25-22, 25-18) win over Academy of Art after winning a crucial third set. Sophomore Melissa Brum turned in a match-high 17 kills and the Urban Knights offered a season-high 12.5 blocks, but it was not enough inside Kezar Pavilion continuing ART U's homestand.

The Cougars came out of the gate in command, quickly going up 14-7. However, Academy of Art responded to the call, using kills by sophomore Emily Papale and Brum as well as back-to-back service aces from Rachael Smith to execute an 8-1 run and tie the first set 15-15. From a 17-17 score, APU proceeded to score four unanswered and that would ultimately lead to their 25-20 victory to start.

Following a short break, ART U simply owned the second set. The Knights began by winning seven straight points, including two service aces for Papale, and ultimately went up 12-4. A wall of Papale, Isabel Emrich, and Margaret Winkler highlighted one of three big blocks along the way to help Academy of Art maintain its advantage. Trading points the rest of the way resulted in ART U's 25-17 second set win.

The teams headed into the third set each with a victory under their belt and an early 8-4 run by the Cougars initially put them in control. Unfazed by the deficit, Academy of Art fought back with its own 8-4 push midway through to tie things up 20-20 on an attack error. After both sides had burned their timeouts, APU managed a slight margin and finished off the set 25-22 after a final tandem on the block.

Neither side claimed much of an advantage early in the fourth set as back-and-forth play soon saw a 9-9 score. From there, however, Azusa Pacific (6-5 overall, 2-1 PacWest) went on an 11-5 surge and despite Papale's continued efforts to slam home kills, the Cougars held on for the 25-18 set victory and the match itself.

For the Urban Knights (6-4 overall and 1-1 PacWest), 17 kills and 11 digs from Brum led the way. Papale delivered eight kills along with a season-high 19 digs and Emrich finished with nine kills as well as 12 digs. Six block assists each from Emrich and Winkler helped ART U attain its season-high 12.5 blocks. Smith added 36 assists and seven digs while Kanoe Irvine posted 14 digs.

Academy of Art continues its three matches in three days with Dixie State in town on Friday for a 7:30 PM first serve and special Battle of the Halls event. Sign up for the FAN BUS here!