IRVINE, Calif. – Even through the first two sets of action after impressive hitting by Academy of Art volleyball, the Urban Knights wound up falling to Concordia 3-1 (26-24, 17-25, 25-11, 25-18) in the teams' first Pacific West Conference meeting on Friday evening inside CU Arena.
Though CUI initially built a 10-5 lead, ART U was able to fight back with several kills from graduate student outside hitter
Amalie Rupertova. Repeated ties at 19, 22, 23, and 24 all ensued with both sides threatening on set points. Rupertova's back-to-back put-aways had the Knights ahead 24-23, but three straight scores by the home team shifted the set in their favor 26-24.
The second frame began with a Golden Eagles taking the first point before a 7-1 run that featured consecutive kills by freshman middle blocker/outside hitter
Alohi Garcia and consecutive service aces by graduate student outside hitter/right side
Maya McClellan. From a 9-3 advantage, Academy of Art maintained the margin for the remainder of the set on the strength of six more McClellan kills plus two from Rupertova (the tandem combined for 19 kills two sets in). In the end the match was evened up on a 25-17 victory for ART U.
Starting a bit better than the opening set, the Golden Eagles found themselves in front 10-2 to begin the third and, while McClellan sent down back-to-back kills to keep the Knights closer initially thereafter, CUI soon pushed a double-digit difference at 16-6. Another brief Concordia run secured the frame 25-11.
From a 6-6 tie in the fourth set, CUI went up 10-7 yet kills by freshman outside hitter/right side
Crystal Creek, graduate student middle blocker
Chandra Reed, and McClellan helped Academy of Art storm back to knot the score at 11-11. A 5-1 Golden Eagles surge then created separation for the eventual 25-18 win.
The Urban Knights drop to 2-15 on the season and 1-9 in PacWest play. McClellan led both sides with 20 kills plus three service aces and two blocks while Rupertova added 13 kills. Junior setter
Lina Ellilä recorded her third double-double of the year with 19 assists and 10 digs, deferring some of her assists to freshman libero
LC-Reece Nakagawa who amassed a season-high seven assists in addition to three service aces and 23 digs (her second-highest total in 2023).
Concordia improves to 8-8 overall, pulling even at 4-4 in conference matchups with Kirra Schulz posting a team-best 17 kills alongside 20 assists apiece for Alyson Fullbright and Kawehi Chang plus 12 digs from Kennedy Farley.
Academy of Art's second Southern California roadtrip concludes tomorrow with the Knights rematching Westmont in Montecito at 7 p.m.
