FRESNO, Calif. – Inside Fresno Pacific's Special Events Center on Saturday afternoon, Academy of Art University volleyball rallied back from a 2-0 deficit, but ended up falling to the Sunbirds 3-1 (25-12, 25-21, 22-25, 26-24). With her 16th and final kill late in the fourth set, senior outside hitter Melissa Brum became the program's all-time points leader.

Out of the gate, FPU gained a 15-6 lead and later rattled off seven of eight points to extend the margin and went on to win 25-12. The first set quickly became a memory, however, as both teams found themselves in a see-saw battle of a second set. Brum had three kills early and later back-to-back blocks tied it 7-7. An 18-15 Fresno Pacific advantage was erased by a 4-0 run that featured a pair of service aces from redshirt sophomore defensive specialist Lyndsay Mlynar and soon the teams were knotted 20-20. Rallying behind their home crowd, however, the Sunbirds scored on five of the final six points to win 25-21.

Offense came from junior middle blocker Margaret Winkler and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Safua Elisaia as Academy of Art started the second set on a 7-2 run, but FPU responded with five of the next six points. Another surge put ART U up 13-7 and that lead would eventually bring them to a decisive moment at 24-17. A resilient Sunbirds team fought off five straight set points, but finally gave way to the Knights 25-22.

"We settled down after the first set  and we felt that we started to be more competitive in that second set," said head coach Ray Batalon. "Then in the third set, we continued to build momentum and Safua started to really connect with the setters. Because Mel was doing so well on the outside, they were leaving Safua one-on one in the middle and she was able to capitalize on it."

From an 8-8 tie in the fourth set, Fresno Pacific used a 5-2 push to gain separation, but two service aces from redshirt freshman outside hitter Ema Causevic plus kills by Elisaia and Brum all highlighted a 7-2 comeback to tie things up 23-23. The teams traded points to 24-24 before a kill and ART U attack error swung the 26-24 set and match to FPU.

Academy of Art is now 6-14 overall and 4-7 in conference play. Brum's match-high 16 kills were complemented by 10 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. With one block assist giving her 16.5 points on the day, she proceeded to tie Dan Yang for the program's career points record (1459). Elisaia hit .512 with 13 kills (one shy of her career-high) and added four block assists. Freshman setter Lilika Teu finished with 29 assists while Causevic posted nine kills and 15 digs.

Fresno Pacific improves to 6-9 overall and 4-7 in the PacWest. Montana Lowe matched Brum's match-high 16 kills while Bissie DenHartog amassed 47 assists.

ART U's final match of October comes Saturday, Oct. 29 when the Knights host Dixie State inside Kezar Pavilion beginning at 3 p.m.

"Leading up to Dixie, we need to clean up our out-of-system contacts," said Batalon. "Whether it's being more aggressive or locating the set a little better on those broken plays, hopefully will lead to more points. I felt that that was the biggest difference tonight."