SAN DIEGO – Unfazed by an early lead for Point Loma, Academy of Art University volleyball completed an impressive comeback to pick up its first Pacific West Conference victory inside Golden Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. En route to the 3-1 (17-25, 25-21, 25-15, 25-21) win, highlights included a career-high 11 kills by freshman middle blocker Sadie Emery, a season-best 13 service aces for the Urban Knights, and senior middle blocker Margaret Winkler becoming the new career blocks record-holder.

"Serving was a big key to our win tonight," said head coach Ray Batalon. "Our serving definitely limited some of their options and helped neutralize their setter. I think it rattled them a bit and we were able to capitalize on those opportunities."

After opening set one on an 8-2 run, PLNU soon watched Academy of Art fight back with a 6-3 push essentially bookended by block assists with Winkler. She would tie career blocks leader Amy Bush with that pair of rejections. Though the Knights came to within four at 16-12, the Sea Lions ended up extending its advantage before prevailing 25-17.

Winkler's milestone came early in the second set when she and freshman outside hitter Kimiah Johnson teamed up for the block to make it 7-7. Though Point Loma went up by as many as six thereafter, Academy of Art would not give up, working its way back with a 6-0 run sparked by a kill from Emery. From a 19-19 tie, ART U finished the 25-21 second set win on a 7-2 surge that featured kills by four different Knights hitters.

The third set was highlighted by a 13-5 Knights run which saw quite a bit of offense from Johnson and Emery plus another block assist and kill from Winkler. Trading points for the remainder of the frame, Academy of Art's double-digit lead held up through the 25-15 set-winning kill by Emery from junior setter Alana Lucas.

The first break in an even fourth set came on four unanswered ART U points with a pair of kills bookending back-to-back service aces by freshman libero Ashley Pawlak. A 5-0 Knights surge came shortly thereafter and this time it was redshirt junior Lyndsay Mlynar who delivered three consecutive service aces for an 18-9 advantage. PLNU put forth one final comeback attempt with an 8-1 run to come within two points, but it was met with four of the final six points to Academy of Art for the match-ending 25-21 set victory.

"We were very aggressive serving tonight," said Batalon. "In our two previous matches, I felt that we were not aggressive enough. When we serve well, we are able to set up our defense more effectively and it leads to some easier transition opportunities."

Saturday's result improves the Knights' record to 4-11 overall and 1-7 in conference play. Three ART U players finished with double-digit kills including Johnson (12), Emery (11), and senior outside hitter Bailey Soolsma (11). Emery, who posted the program's eighth-highest single-match hitting percentage (.556), topped her previous career-high by one. Pawlak was also among Academy of Art's single-match record-holders, with her six service aces the second-most in program history. She added a match-high 19 digs.

"Sadie has really started to come into her own, especially on the offensive end," said Batalon. "She is continually improving each day and she was definitely an impact player for us tonight."

Winkler, who earlier this season became the program's career leader in block assists, added the title of career total blocks leader to her resume on Saturday. She amassed five in the match to give her 45, the ninth-most blocks in the PacWest this year. The Poznan, Poland native now has 270 rejections in her career.

"Margaret is truly a student of the game," said Batalon. "She takes additional time to watch the opponents and their tendencies and it adds to her blocking. I'm very proud of her and the time she has put into this aspect of her game."

Point Loma drops to 6-10 overall and 3-5 in the PacWest despite a match-high 16 kills from Jamie Cymbaluk.

Upon returning home this weekend, Academy of Art will begin preparations for an upcoming homestand that will feature Hawaii Pacific (Oct. 11), Concordia (Oct. 13), Dixie State (Oct. 16), and Biola (Oct. 19).

"With our upcoming homestand, we want to continue being aggressive at the service line," said Batalon. "It is another tough set of teams that will require us to serve well. We want to also continue improving our out-of-system setting and attacking. We haven't been very consistent with it and it's lending itself to some easy points for our opponent. That will be a huge focus for us this week in practice."