SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – On a night that saw several members of the Academy of Art volleyball team offer their best performances of the season, it was Dominican who rallied back from a two-set deficit to triumph 3-2 (21-25, 24-26, 25-12, 25-21, 15-6) inside Conlan Rec Center on Wednesday night.

"Our team played really well," said head coach Allen McCreary. "We were clicking in first two sets and we were making Dominican play our match. We are trying to improve when the pressure is on."

From a 9-9 score, the Urban Knights jumped ahead 13-10 on a run capped by a combined block from freshman middle blocker Jillian Wheaton and freshman outside hitter Celena Davison. The third kill of the set from redshirt senior middle blocker Safua Elisaia extended the lead to 17-12 and, ART U maintained the margin with a pair of service aces from Wheaton shortly thereafter. Three of the final four points belonged to Academy of Art including two kills from Davison as the visitors prevailed 25-21 in the opener.

Two kills from junior opposite Kiersten Kerch started the second set and that would be a sign of things to come as she posted six kills in the frame alone. Those scores contributed to a 7-4 advantage for the Knights, but the Penguins would battle back to an 11-11 tie. From that point, a total of 11 more ties ensued as the set came down to the wire. Though ART U would be denied a finish on its first set point, the second was converted after sophomore outside hitter Ashley Pawlak and Elisaia posted back-to-back kills for the 26-24 victory.

Channeling their home crowd, Dominican got ahead 11-4 out of the gate in the third set and later rattled off seven of the next 11 points en route to a 25-12 win. The fourth set see-sawed back and forth as neither side could gain much separation until the score was tied 15-15. The Penguins scored three straight and that shift ended up being the difference. Academy of Art defended against two set points, but could not hold on as the match was evened on a 25-21 set victory for Dominican.

The Penguins rode their momentum from the previous two set wins to an initial 7-3 advantage in the decisive fifth set then closed out the 15-6 victory on an 8-2 push.

The Urban Knights are now 0-22 overall and 0-14 in PacWest play despite having numerous impressive performance across the roster. ART U's 52 kills, 51 assists, and 13.0 blocks were all the most in a single match for Academy of Art this season. Pawlak provided her sixth double-double of the year with a team-high 14 kills and 15 digs while Elisaia had a double-double of her own with a season-high 11 kills plus a career-high 17 digs and five block assists. Kerch added a season-best 11 kills and five block assists, Wheaton posted nine blocks, also a season-high, and the tandem of freshman setter Picabo Reinhold (25) and senior setter Alana Lucas (18) combined for 43 assists. Reinhold also 11 digs for her seventh double-double of 2018 and redshirt senior libero Lyndsay Mlynar amassed a team-high 18 digs.

Dominican ascends to 6-12 on the year and 4-9 in conference with the victory. Catherine Johnson and Brittania Chan had 19 kills apiece.

Academy of Art opens a four-match homestand this weekend with rematches against Chaminade (Oct. 20) and UH Hilo (Oct. 21) inside Kezar Pavilion.