MONTECITO, Calif. – Academy of Art volleyball took the court for the second time in two days and, in a bit of déjà vu, the Urban Knights were victorious in the second set, but Westmont emerged from the Saturday evening Pacific West Conference rematch inside Murchison Gymnasium as 3-1 (25-23, 24-26, 25-17, 25-21) winners.

Two separate 4-0 runs had the Warriors ahead 11-5 out of the gate, but a 7-2 response with multiple kills by graduate student outside hitter/right side Maya McClellan as well as two blocks (one solo and one with redshirt freshman middle blocker Zoe Arnold) shortened the gap to two points at 16-14. Coming back versus another deficit, sophomore middle blocker Kaia Fittz and freshman middle blocker/outside hitter Alohi Garcia then ignited a 6-1 surge that tied the opening set 21-21. Another tie ensued, but Westmont ended up securing three of the final four points to capture a 25-23 victory.

Graduate student outside hitter Amalie Rupertova swung for a pair of kills to bring ART U back against the Warriors early in the second frame. The Knights would then hold a 12-11 lead powered by consecutive blocks with Arnold joining McClellan then Garcia, but as the teams continued to exchange runs, the set was tied four times thereafter. A kill by Garcia had the scored locked at 24-24 from which Arnold and Garcia's tandem block plus McClellan's service ace evened the match on a 26-24 final.

From a 10-3 advantage in the third set, Westmont briefly pushed a double-digit margin yet kills by McClellan, Arnold, and Rupertova helped Academy of Art fight back. ART U came no closer than five points at 21-16, however, as the end result was 25-17 in favor of the home team.

Each side held a lead through the first 13 points of the fourth frame and soon McClellan's second service ace of the contest combined with Arnold's kill to cap a 3-1 burst that brought the Knights to just a 14-12 deficit. Academy of Art could not manage to close the gap despite a 6-1 surge that featured two more blocks by four different Knights as the Warriors outlasted for the 25-21 win, closing on a 4-2 run.

Academy of Art, who moves to 2-16 overall and 1-10 in conference action, had McClellan do a bit of everything with her match-high 15 kills coming alongside eight digs, four blocks (one solo, three assisted), and two service aces. Rupertova finished with eight kills and nine digs, junior setter Elly McInerney contributed 20 assists, and freshman libero LC-Reece Nakagawa totaled nine digs. Leading the team's second-highest block total of the season (13) were Garcia with seven blocks and Arnold with six blocks.

Now 8-9 on the year and 5-5 in PacWest play, Westmont had the tandem of Taylor Distelberg and Phoebe Minch combine for 24 kills, adding six blocks and 15 digs respectively, while Ella Hosfeld provided 21 assists.

ART U returns home next to host three PacWest Southern California opponents from Kezar Pavilion beginning with Azusa Pacific on Oct. 20 at 3 p.m.