HAYWARD, Calif. – Led by three Urban Knights with double-digit kills, Academy of Art volleyball began its 2021 fall season in style, defeating Cal State East Bay 3-1 (23-25, 28-26, 25-18, 25-19) inside Pioneer Gym on Thursday as part of the NorCal Kickoff Tournament.

"It's always nice to start the season with a win," said Head Coach Allen McCreary. "It helps build confidence with our younger players."

After ART U's first kill of the year was put down by junior setter Picabo Reinhold, the team went on a 10-2 run with freshman outside hitter Katherine Von Kraut, senior middle blocker/opposite Sadie Emery, and junior outside hitter Isaura Santos all contributing kills. The Pioneers would come back to tie the opening set at 17-17 and, following a series of ties, the Knights fought off two set points with kills from junior middle blocker Jillian Wheaton and Santos, but the home team prevailed 25-23.

From an 11-11 tie in the second frame, CSUEB built a 21-17 advantage only to watch it dissolve during a 7-0 response from Academy of Art. Freshman outside hitter Ashley Mecham finished off the push to force set point at 24-21, but the frame was far from over. The Pioneers scored five of the next six points, gaining two of their own set points along the way, but the final three points belonged to ART U as back-to-back kills from Mecham and Von Kraut evened up the match with a 28-26 final score.

That momentum carried into the third frame where four different Knights recorded kills during a 7-1 start. Cal State East Bay would battle back to tie at 9-9 then go ahead 13-11. Another kill from Reinhold then sparked a difference-making 11-2 surge which featured consecutive kills by Von Kraut before the 25-18 win for Academy of Art.

Set four see-sawed back and forth until it reached a 17-17 deadlock. From there, ART U was firing on all cylinders beginning with kills from Santos and Mecham. Emery provided a service ace, Reinhold put away another and Mecham connected for her 12th kill of the contest. What became an 8-2 Knights run ended up finishing off the frame 25-19 and subsequently the match 3-1.

Starting the season at 1-0 overall, Academy of Art was led by Von Kraut's match-high 14 kills followed by Santos' 13 kills and Mecham's 12 kills. Mecham added a match-high 15 digs for the double-double and Santos was just one dig shy of her own with nine on the day. In her first collegiate match since 2019, Reinhold did it all, collecting 36 assists, five kills, and nine digs. Freshman libero Elena Torres finished with 11 digs in her collegiate debut.

Cal State East Bay drops to 0-1 in its first match of the season with Kara Green's 12 kills pacing the squad. Mia Jordan added 10 kills as well.

"We have been really working hard on the serve and pass of the game," McCreary said. "Tonight, we knew that we had to serve tough and be in system and we did that. We controlled our errors and were able to compete. It was a good way to start, but we turn around and play a really good team tomorrow morning."

Continuing the remainder of the NorCal Kickoff Tournament inside Dominican's Conlan Center in San Rafael, ART U meets Chico State tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.