SAN FRANCISCO – Sophomore outside hitter Ashley Pawlak's career-high 20 kills led three Urban Knights in double-figure kills on Saturday, but it could not prevent Fresno Pacific from earning the Pacific West Conference victory 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 29-27, 25-15) over Academy of Art after a critical third set win inside Kezar Pavilion.

Kills by freshman middle blocker and Pawlak got ART U a 5-3 lead early, but the Sunbirds would work their way back in front 14-11. Pawlak scored back-to-back points on a service ace and a kill to bring the Knights within three points at 19-16, however, after trading points for the remainder of the set, it was FPU who gained the initial advantage with a 25-21 set win.

Academy of Art continued with its rhythm on offense in the second frame, getting ahead 15-6 on terminations from a variety of sources including Pawlak and Wheaton as well as redshirt middle blocker Safua Elisaia and junior opposite Kiersten Kerch. Despite leading 22-13, ART U would not win the set so easily as Fresno Pacific executed an 8-1 run to make it close. Kerch set up set point with a kill, but the Sunbirds fought off two potential finishers before Wheaton's solo block earned the Knights the set 25-23.

The most dramatic of the four sets, the third had Academy of Art on top 9-5 to start then a steady Sunbirds comeback brought the visitors a 22-17 lead. ART U rattled off five of the next six points starting with a kill by sophomore middle blocker Sadie Emery and later including a pair from Elisaia. Though Fresno Pacific had set point at 24-22, a big kill by Wheaton highlighted a three-point swing that would get the Knights their own set point at 25-24. Kills from FPU denied that ender and another moments later before an attack error and a block at the net gave the Sunbirds a 29-27 triumph.

Riding the momentum from that set victory, Fresno Pacific got ahead 12-5 to open the fourth frame, but a 6-1 push back came from Academy of Art with redshirt senior libero Lyndsay Mlynar delivering two service aces during that stretch. From there, a 6-2 move was made by the Sunbirds to get ahead 19-13 and they would go on to secure the set 25-15, winning the match 3-1.

Academy of Art, now 0-15 on the season and 0-7 in PacWest action, had its highest combined hitting percentage (.195) and amount of total blocks (10.0) in the contest. Pawlak's 20 kills topped her previous career-high of 17 which came in just her second match as an Urban Knight and her 19 digs on Saturday were her second-highest this season. For the second consecutive day, Wheaton put up double-digit kills with 11 and Elisaia added a season-high 10 alongside. In one less set of action, Reinhold delivered 41 assists and 14 digs to tie her career-highs which were set against Notre Dame de Namur the previous night.

Fresno Pacific ascends to 4-11 overall and 3-3 in conference play with the victory after three Sunbirds also posted double-figure kills. Carley Bock led all players with 20 put-aways while Caroline Bodziak offered 15 kills and Madison Pierce had 10.

The Urban Knights' annual Hawaii road trip is now on the horizon. ART U will first face UH Hilo (Sept. 28) then island hops to Oahu for pairings with Hawaii Pacific (Sept. 30) and Chaminade (Oct. 1).