SEASIDE, Calif. – Saturday's conclusion to the Otter Invitational saw Academy of Art volleyball come back after dropping a match to Cal Poly Pomona 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-18) to offer its best collective performance of the season, pushing Cal State Dominguez Hills to the limit in a 3-2 (25-16, 25-21, 20-25, 16-25, 15-7) loss inside the Otter Sports Complex.

MATCH 1 – CPP 3, ART U 0
Building a 12-5 advantage out of the gate, the Broncos were soon met with back-to-back kills from graduate student outside hitters Amalie Rupertova and Maya McClellan as the margin shortened to four points. An 8-2 run by Cal Poly Pomona thereafter would close out the set at 25-15.

Academy of Art began the second frame with a service ace from McClellan then sophomore right side Katherine Von Kraut swung for two consecutive kills and followed that up with a solo block during a 5-1 start. ART U maintained the advantage until the score became 8-8 and, though the Urban Knights worked back in front 13-11, a 7-0 response from CPP turned the tide. Rupertova sent down two more kills, but the Broncos prevailed 25-17 for a two-set lead.

A back-and-forth early stage of the third frame had Academy of Art up 7-5 on freshman setter Ainsley Robare's second collegiate kill, but nine straight scores for the Broncos doubled them up 14-7. ART U got nearly all of those points back with five unanswered including another pair of kills by Von Kraut to make it 14-12 yet the Knights came no closer as the squads traded points until CPP took six of the final eight to seal the set at 25-18 and claim the match.

For the Urban Knights, Von Kraut paced the squad with nine kills (including a .375 hitting percentage), adding four digs, three assists, two block solos, and one block assist. Rupertova had eight kills with eight digs, Robare emerged with 12 assists, and senior libero Isaura Santos finished with nine digs.

Cal Poly Pomona, now 2-1 on the season, was led by 10 kills from Madison Novak.

MATCH 2 – CSUDH 3, ART U 2
Going up 9-4 to begin both teams' final contest in the tournament, Cal State Dominguez Hills soon saw kills by Rupertova, McClellan, and sophomore setter Nina Garcia cut the margin down two before a 5-1 run gave way to an 8-3 finish to the set at 25-16.

No more than three points separated the two squads until the very end of the second set as a 9-2 surge with back-to-back Von Kraut kills took ART U from down 9-6 to up 15-11. The Toros would make their move to regain the advantage only to see the Knights tie things up for the ninth time at 21-21. Ultimately it was four quick scores by CSUDH that wrapped up their second set victory with the 25-21 final.

Both sides played well throughout the third frame as McClellan impressed with a kills followed by a block assist alongside freshman middle blocker/right side Kaia Fittz to make it 9-9. Academy of Art would soon grab hold of the momentum, breaking an 18-18 tie with kills by Von Kraut and McClellan before the latter and Fittz once again denied the Toros at the net for a 22-18 advantage. A 9-3 push to finish the set gave ART U the 25-20 result to stay alive.

What the Knights found at the end of the third began to snowball in the fourth where Rupertova kills accounted for three of the team's first six points, helping Academy of Art gain a lead they would not relinquish. Precariously up by a single point at 10-9, ART U got two more kills from McClellan in what became seven unanswered scores and eventually the 25-16 win as the Knights continued to fire on all cylinders with even junior setter Elly McInerney putting away a crucial point.

Trying to continue to strong play in the decisive fifth set, Academy of Art found themselves trailing 6-2 to start and, though Von Kraut connected on another set of back-to-back kills, an ensuing 6-0 run proved to be too much to overcome. Cal State Dominguez Hills managed to collect the match victory following a 15-7 score yet ART U still walked away with confidence after the results of the third and fourth sets.

Concluding its first tournament at 0-4 overall this season, Academy of Art set season-highs in every statistical category in Saturday's nightcap. Von Kraut bettered her previous career-high by one with 19 kills (hitting .452 for her highest percentage since Oct. 8, 2021) while also adding a career-high of eight digs. A trio of double-doubles came in the form of McClellan's 14 kills and 15 digs, Rupertova's 13 kills and 17 digs, as well as Robare's 12 assists and 14 digs. Along with her five kills, Fittz led her team with four block assists, McInerney amassed 38 assists, and Santos totaled 18 digs.

CSUDH, who open the year 2-1 overall, got 14 kills from Camila Sanchez-Tellez along with a 12-kill, 16-dig double-double from Cassie Taylor.

The Urban Knights next enter the Seawolves/Penguins Classic where they will face four more non-conference opponents across two locations in three days including Northwest Nazarene (Sept. 1), Cal State East Bay and co-host Sonoma State (Sept. 2), and Chico State (Sept. 3).