HAYWARD, Calif. – Academy of Art University volleyball started the 2016 season showing its ability to work hard and grind as they split two five-set matches in the Route 92 Showdown at Pioneer Gym on the campus of Cal State East Bay. ART U started the day and the season by forcing a fifth set against Humboldt State after facing a 2-0 deficit, but the Lumberjacks pulled out the win 3-2 (25-17, 27-25, 17-25, 16-25, 15-5). Some six hours later, the Urban Knights challenged tournament host Cal State East Bay in a see-saw matchup that ended in the fall's first victory for Academy of Art 3-2 (25-22, 22-25, 26-24, 24-26, 15-11).

"We were extremely pleased with our effort in both matches today," said head coach Ray Batalon. "We found ourselves with our backs to the wall several times today and we found a way to fight back. In the earlier match, we got ourselves caught in a particular rotation where we took some great swings, but you have to hand it to Humboldt on making some unbelievable saves on their end. I felt that we started to press too hard and became impatient and thus we dropped that last set to them. In the evening session, we found ourselves in similar situations, but this time, we stayed aggressive and played with more confidence in the deciding set. Our team made great decisions with their attacking and we were finally able to slow down a couple of their primary hitters."

MATCH 1 – HSU 3, ART U 2
Close early on, the first set saw Humboldt State make an initial 6-2 run to create separation midway through, but a 4-0 response capped by sophomore libero Lyndsay Mlynar brought ART U to within two at 17-15. The Jacks proved to be too determined, however, as they took seven of the last eight points to start with a 25-17 win. Neither team had more than a three-point lead in the second set and, 16 ties later, ART U found one of its set points spoiled before HSU pushed ahead with a two-set advantage, taking the second 27-25.

Three kills by senior outside hitter Kabrina Speakman came during a 5-0 Academy of Art run early in the third set and that margin would be extended by an 8-2 surge that featured four Knights registering kills. Up 20-10, ART U had to weather a 7-2 Jacks response, but started its comeback with a 25-17 third set victory on Speakman's service ace. That momentum carried into the fourth where senior outside hitter Melissa Brum delivered a kill to put the team up 6-3. Similarly to the previous set, Academy of Art went on a 10-3 burst with multiple block assists by juniors Bailey Soolsma and Margaret Winkler to even things up 2-2 with the 25-16 set win.

The fifth set went back-and-forth at the start, but a 7-0 Humboldt State run to make it 12-4 was the turning point. From there, the Jacks held on for the match victory after a 15-5 final set. Speakman finished with not only a team-high, but also a career-high 14 kills while redshirt sophomore Safua Elisaia added 10 kills of her own.

MATCH 2 – ART U 3, CSUEB 2
Looking to rebound from the morning, Academy of Art got right to work in the first set against the Pioneers. Service aces from Mlynar and Brum keyed an 8-3 Knights run that ended with freshman setter Lilika Teu finding Speakman for a kill and the early set advantage. After both teams held small leads in the second set, an Elisaia kill brought ART U to within one at 22-21. The comeback would end prematurely, however, because a service error and two Julie Navarro kills later, East Bay had evened the match.

One of redshirt freshman outside hitter Ema Causevic's 12 kills finished off a 4-0 push early in set three to get Academy of Art ahead 11-7. As they did with Humboldt, the Knights had to fend off an 11-3 run by the Pioneers late in the frame, being denied three set points in the process. An important timeout refocused ART U to then secure the 2-1 lead after winning the final two points of a 26-24 victory.

A 7-2 CSUEB burst quickly into the fourth set threatened Academy of Art's chances of staying out of another fifth set, but steady all-around play would keep it anyone's match late. Following a Brum kill and Pioneers attack error, the frame was 24-24, but East Bay dug deep and forced a fifth set. Although the home team rattled off the first three points in the finale, Brum and the Urban Knights went to work in response. An 8-0 surge that featured four Brum kills was the difference as ART U worked steadily towards the 15-11 final.

"We are very excited to get that win against East Bay tonight and we have been working hard with our setters to distribute the ball to all our hitters," said Batalon. "We feel that with a better balance of our attackers, opponents can't just key on one of us. We felt great about our passing tonight and did a very good job with our serve and passing as well. We attribute much of the success to the number of kills to our passers and our setters. Without our passing game, we would be a very one-sided team."

Now 1-1 on the year, Academy of Art showed its versatility in the victory with double-digit kills from Brum (15), Speakman (13), and Causevic (12) along with double-doubles from its two setters in Teu (24 assists, 15 digs) and sophomore Alana Lucas (25 assists, 10 digs). Brum and Mlynar shared the team-lead with 23 digs apiece and Speakman added 17 digs against CSUEB. The team's 104 total digs at East Bay matched the third-most all-time.

ART U will be back for its second and final day of the Route 92 Showdown tomorrow in Belmont. The Knights take on Barry (1-1) at 11 a.m. and Chico State (1-1) at 4:30 p.m. both inside Notre Dame High School as Notre Dame de Namur's gym is currently unavailable.

"Tomorrow, we'd like to see ourselves continuing to improve with our out-of-system attacking," said Batalon. "We'd like to see our hitters be a little more aggressive and we want to be more aggressive with our serve. Overall, we feel that we're doing a lot of the fundamental skills well. We are looking forward to once again getting on the floor and competing with as much effort as we had today."