Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Hayward, CA – Academy of Art University Volleyball had a strong showing to start the year inside Pioneer Gym as part on day one of the Route 92 Showdown. In the 2014 season opener, Humboldt State barely outlasted the Urban Knights 3-2 (21-25, 25-14, 20-25, 32-30, 15-12). The nightcap against host Cal State East Bay was a display of domination by ART U as they swept the Pioneers 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-23).

"Getting this win for the first time against East Bay is a good sign for our program," head coach Ed Jackson said. "It is great to get a victory early in the year and it was nice that it was on their home floor in the premiere match of the evening. I was really proud of the team. Their ability to move on from the tough five-set loss to Humboldt and regroup was shown in how they played a very consistent match from start to finish."

Coming out of the gate focused on both sides of the ball versus Humboldt, ART U quickly established a 7-2 advantage behind Melissa Brum's strong right arm. The sophomore had four kills in five attempts and would keep up that pace through her first seven touches.

The Urban Knights rattled off eight unanswered points midway through the set to go up 20-9, but the Jacks responded with an 8-1 run in which they fended off four match points before Academy of Art ultimately finished off the first set victory 25-21.

Humboldt State bounced back quickly in the second set, jumping out to a 9-3 lead. The teams began to trade points from there, but HSU's advantage held up and eventually turned into a 25-14 win to even the match.

Facing a 14-8 deficit in the third, ART U called timeout and then proceeded to unleash an 11-0 run that began with two kills apiece for Isabel Emrich and Brittany Ulmer. That swing finished with Kanoe Irvine's service ace and had Academy of Art up 19-14. Humboldt came within two points (22-20), but an Ulmer ace combined with unforced errors resulted in a 25-20 set win for the Knights.

Now up 2-1, ART U played the set of a lifetime in the fourth. A back-and-forth battle much of the way, the Knights closed a four-point gap to force a 16-16 tie and later at 24-24, the teams fought through six ties and even a match point for ART U (28-27) before the Jacks used consecutive kills to even the sets 2-2 with a 32-30 win.

After rallying back with four straight points in the fifth, Academy of Art took an 8-6 lead, but Humboldt came back with their own run. Though Brum followed with two kills to put her over 20 kills for the third time in her career, it was the Jacks who held on for a 15-12 set victory and the match.


A half-hour delay started ART U in its second match of the day at 8:00 PM against Cal State East Bay. The two evenly matched teams went back-and-forth, tying at 10-10, 15-15, 19-19, and finally 23-23 on Smith's service ace. Storming back and finishing with a kill by Brum, Academy of Art delivered five unanswered points to claim set one 25-23.

Neither team held more than a two-point advantage in the second set until the Pioneers went ahead 21-18 thanks to a 4-1 run. ART U would not allow it to last, however, because they used a 7-2 push to close the set out on a winning note. Brum, Emrich, and freshman Safua Elisaia each had highlight kills in the run to another 25-23 victory.

"We were down in a few of those sets and the team just got really tough," Coach Jackson said. "We just found ways to come back and finish them off. It's good to get this win."

Though CSUEB seemed determined to make a move early in the third set, the Knights responded with a 5-1 push to tie things up 11-11. The teams again traded blows and found themselves knotted up at 22-22. At that point, Brum came through with a pair of kills before closing the match on a big service ace which kept the 25-23 set score theme.

For the 1-1 Knights, Brum had 21 kills and 14 digs in the opening match while Papale added 10 kills and 19 digs. Smith offered 48 assists while the tandem of Emrich and Irvine combined for 38 digs in that one. Match two featured a 19-kill performance from Brum, seven kills and 15 digs by Papale, and 42 assists by Smith.

Academy of Art concludes its participation in the season-opening Route 92 Showdown tomorrow with matches against Notre Dame de Namur (11:00 AM) and Carson Newman (4:30 PM) inside NDNU's Walter Gleason Gym in Belmont.