HAYWARD, Calif. – Day two of the Division II West Region Volleyball Showcase saw Academy of Art University volleyball take a pair of tough losses inside Cal State East Bay's Pioneer Gym. Following a 3-0 sweep (25-21, 25-15, 25-20) at the hands of Cal State San Marcos, the Urban Knights made history in their evening matchup with Cal State Monterey Bay. Down 2-0, ART U delivered 22 kills in the third set alone and forced a fifth, but just could not complete the comeback, dropping the finale 3-2 (25-20, 25-22, 16-25, 14-25, 15-10).

"Against Monterey Bay, there were some areas where I think we were afraid to fail," said head coach Ray Batalon. "But in order to grow we have to go through that. In that match, there were a lot of concepts that showed like keeping a balanced offense. We were aggressive at the service line and that put a lot of pressure on them as well."

MATCH 1 – CSUSM 3, ART U 0
After freshman setter Lilika Teu found redshirt middle blocker Safua Elisaia for the kill to tie the first set 17-17, Cal State San Marcos unleashed a 5-1 run to create separation and eventually won by that margin 25-21. Though the Cougars started the second set on a 10-4 run, the Urban Knights responded with a 6-2 burst highlighted by a kill and service ace from senior outside hitter Melissa Brum. The two-point margin was then expanded to 10 points following CSUSM's rebuttal and a 25-15 victory proceeded for Cal State San Marcos.

The teams went back and forth with respective two-point runs to open the third set, but a quick 5-0 push midway through helped the Cougars establish a margin that they would never relinquish. Academy of Art repeatedly came within one point of its opponent, but a 5-1 run closed the set 25-20 for CSUSM's sweep.

MATCH 2 – CSUMB 3, ART U 2
The first two sets saw Cal State Monterey Bay execute runs of 6-1 and 8-1 respectively to pull away late. Though redshirt sophomore libero Lyndsay Mlynar's service ace brought ART U to within three at 23-20 in the opener, the Otters managed to finish the 25-20 victory. A 5-0 Knights run featuring kills by three different hitters came midway through the second set yet the 8-1 push closed the frame with CSUMB on top 25-22.

In a must-win third set, Academy of Art got started with its first six kills by five different players. Freshman middle blocker Jennifer Argelander began a 6-1 burst that ensued as 19 of the first 20 ART U points were via kills. After going ahead 20-13, sophomore outside hitter Hanna Kahn delivered her team-high fifth kill of the set, sophomore setter Alana Lucas added an ace, and the Knights were quickly to the 25-16 win. Academy of Art would post 22 kills with only a single error for a .724 attack percentage when all was said and done.

"It's uncommon to put up 22 kills in a set," said Batalon. "That's an incredible job. We earned 22 out of 25 points and what we're usually looking at is 16 or 17 kills per set. That was the best volleyball we've played all year."

Carrying their momentum into the fourth set, ART U jumped ahead 9-1 using back-to-back service aces from senior outside hitter Kabrina Speakman as well as kills from up and down the roster. The Knights' advantage hovered around 8-10 points for the remainder of the set as junior middle blocker Margaret Winkler spiked a pair during the 4-2 push to earn a 25-14 victory and force a fifth set.

The match see-sawed in the finale with ART U going up 4-2 then falling behind 6-4 before finding themselves down 11-10 with the pressure on. The final four points wound up all going to CSUMB in the end as two kills, an attack error, and a service ace resulted in the Otters' 15-10 escape.

Academy of Art is now 1-6 on the year, but had its highest kill output of the year and sixth-most in program history against Cal State Monterey Bay. Five Knights registered double-digit kills led by Brum's 14 and career-highs from Soolsma (12), Kahn (11), and Winkler (10). Mlynar finished with a season-high 27 digs (just one off her season-high).

ART U concludes its participation in the D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase tomorrow with a 7:30 p.m. first serve against tournament host Cal State East Bay.

"Moving forward, we're just looking to continue to improve," said Batalon. "That's our goal in the preseason. We want to try to find a rhythm and a sense of confidence going into conference play. I think we can take a lot of positives today, coming out of a couple of tough losses."