AZUSA, Calif. – Inside the Felix Event Center on Saturday afternoon, Azusa Pacific, whom nine coaches picked to finish first in the Pacific West Conference Preseason Poll, executed a 3-0 (25-5, 25-19, 25-10) sweep of Academy of Art volleyball.

The Cougars started the day by building a 13-0 lead and did not look back, eventually getting ahead 21-1 and taking the opener 25-5. In the second set, freshman middle blocker Jillian Wheaton provided two early kills toward what would be the most competitive frame of the afternoon. A 6-0 run had APU up 13-6, but six unanswered points by the Urban Knights followed shortly thereafter, closing the gap to 14-11. Junior opposite Kiersten Kerch and redshirt senior middle blocker Safua Elisaia posted kills in the run, but despite their lead being two points late, Azusa Pacific managed to make one final push to the 25-19 final.

Up 16-2 to begin set three, APU essentially traded points with ART U the rest of the way and went on to claim a 25-10 set victory and the sweep.

The Urban Knights drop to 0-10 overall, 0-2 in PacWest play. Five kills apiece came from Wheaton, Emery, and Elisaia while Reinhold added 19 assists and was one dig shy of the double-double. Redshirt senior libero Lyndsay Mlynar posted eight digs in two sets of action.

Azusa Pacific, who improves to 7-4 on the year (2-0 in conference) with the victory, was led by two hitters with double-digit kills. Both hitting over .640, Aliyah Morrison posted 13 kills and Sara Wagenveld offered 11 put-aways.

Academy of Art returns to the Bay Area, but will remain on the road, facing Holy Names this Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. in Oakland.