SAN FRANCISCO -- Academy of Art volleyball's eventful 2023 campaign featured the conclusion of two impressive collegiate careers, eight five-set matches, a series sweep of Dominican, and ultimately a new ART U single-season service aces record (197) all with first-year Head Coach Mike Gomez at the helm.

"I want to start off by saying that this was one of the most enjoyable group of human beings I've had the pleasure to coach and work alongside with," Gomez said. "Their love for volleyball and appreciation of the journey we went through together every day made it feel like a family very quickly. I watched this team fight day in and day out and compete at a high level every match. The confidence and progression of this team earned the respect of our conference opponents, and other teams knew that they needed to bring their best to beat us. Everyone in our gym and anyone who saw ART U volleyball play this year knows and feels that our time is coming."

Beginning with the Stan State Tournament in late August, the Urban Knights opened with consecutive five-set duels with Chico State (Aug. 31) and the host Warriors (Sept. 1), foreshadowing some of the battles ahead. Both were near-comebacks as graduate student outside hitter/right side Maya McClellan led ART U with 17 kills in the season opener and graduate student outside hitter Amalie Rupertova matched her teammate with 17 kills on day two in another sign of standout performances to come. Bouncing back from a defeat at Western Oregon's hand, the tournament's final day (Sept. 2) ended on a high note as the third double-doubles respectively for McClellan and Rupertova guided Academy of Art to a 3-1 win over Western New Mexico.

The second and final non-conference tournament of the year, the Seawolves Volleyball Classic, followed with tough matchups coming against California Collegiate Athletic Association opponents in No. 9 Cal State San Bernardino and Cal State Monterey Bay both on Sept. 7 as well as Cal State Dominguez Hills on Sept. 8. Junior setter/defensive specialist Nina Garcia led the team in digs on the first day while junior setter Elly McInerney had no fewer than 21 assists in each of the contests.

Pacific West Conference play was up next and it began with ART U facing Biola (Sept. 13), Azusa Pacific (Sept. 14), and Point Loma (Sept. 16) over a four-day span in Southern California. The Knights out-blocked BU, delivered more service aces than APU, and achieved what would be their second-best hitting percentage of the season versus PLNU, but returned to the Bay Area still in search of their first conference victory.

Opening their longest homestand of the year, Academy of Art first rematched Biola on Sept. 22 and, playing some of their best defense of the season with graduate student middle blocker Chandra Reed registering nine blocks and junior right side Sofia Stemberga adding eight, the Knights posted their highest block total (17.0) since 2011 (third-most in program history) in a 3-2 heartbreaker. The subsequent afternoon on Sept. 23 saw another five-set contest as Westmont narrowly fended off an ART U comeback led by McClellan (25 kills) and freshman outside hitter/right side Crystal Creek (12 kills).

Though the sets won were different, the result was same in the third part of the homestand with Fresno Pacific rallying in the fourth and fifth frames for a 3-2 win on Sept. 27 despite Rupertova's season-high 20 kills. Double-doubles by both McClellan and Rupertova plus junior setter Lina Ellilä's season-high 43 assists and sophomore middle blocker Kaia Fittz's career-high six service aces would then propel the Knights over the hump in a five-set triumph over Hawaii Pacific on Oct. 4, making it four consecutive matches that went the distance.

After losses to No. 18 Chaminade (Oct. 5) and UH Hilo (Oct. 7) closed out the stretch at home, Academy of Art got 20 and 15 kills respectively from McClellan in the Knights' first battle with Concordia (Oct. 13) and following rematch at Westmont (Oct. 14). Back inside Kezar Pavilion for three more, freshman libero LC-Reece Nakagawa amassed a season-best 31 digs (ninth-most in ART U history) against APU (Oct. 20) and a wild 37-35 opening set with Point Loma (Oct. 21) saw Academy of Art go on to record a season-high 90 digs as five Knights reached double figures.

The homestand ended two nights later on Oct. 23 with ART U promoting breast cancer awareness with its "Dig Pink" match hosting Concordia and dominating to the tune of a 3-0 victory by way of seven service aces in the opening set and a strong hitting percentage throughout. Though the Knights dropped their rematch with FPU on Oct. 27, a bounce-back came at Dominican on Nov. 4 as Academy of Art tied its own program record with 15 service aces while Rupertova and McClellan combined for 27 kills.

"Our numbers from the service line were no surprise to us," Gomez said. "One of our main focuses this year was how we could make our presence felt more on defense and we understood that our serving was really the first line of defense in trying to get teams starting out-of-system early and often. We put a lot of work into being very specific with our touch and strategy behind the service line in practice. Coach Nick Monroe calls the serving game in matches and he does an incredible job finding opportunities for our players."

In Hawaii to challenge a trio of PacWest opponents once again, ART U's final road trip began versus UH Hilo (Nov. 9), continued at No. 15 Chaminade (Nov. 11), and wrapped up with yet another five-set contest at Hawaii Pacific (Nov. 12). That final match came down to the very end as the sides exchanged sets then runs in the last frame which the Sharks secured despite redshirt freshman middle blocker Zoe Arnold posting a season-high nine blocks among several standout performances.

Back home one last time, the Urban Knights wrapped up their 2023 campaign by hosting Dominican for Senior Day on Nov. 18. An emotional pre-match ceremony honoring Rupertova and McClellan quickly gave way to a thrilling five-set battle (ART U's eighth of the year) as McClellan put away a career-high 27 kills (third in ART U history), Rupertova's four service aces helped her tie the single-season program record (42), and freshman middle blocker/outside hitter Alohi Garcia added a season-best 14 kills in a memorable 3-2 victory.

"Amalie and Maya will certainly be missed next season, from their leadership and experience to what they did for us on the court," Gomez said. "More than half of our offense ran through that duo and we really leaned on their ability to score as we continued to develop our younger talent. Amalie and Maya were both instrumental in turning around the team's defensive identity in addition to nearly reaching 300 digs apiece. You could see the mentality shift and physical effort put forth by the two of them. I know confidently that both Amalie and Maya instilled a lot of experience and tools in their younger teammates to help them take that next step in their game."

McClellan, who earned the season's final PacWest Player of the Week honor for her exclamation mark of a performance versus Dominican, finished her career as a member of the All-PacWest Second Team for the second straight year. One of just three players in West Region to average at least 3.60 kills and 2.75 digs per set, the Interior Architecture & Design major ranked second in the PacWest in kills and points per set during the regular season, delivering 14 double-doubles as well. McClellan (675) joined Rupertova (624) among the top three two-year players in ART U history in total career kills (fifth and eighth respectively overall).

"It's never easy to replace the level of talent of losing special players like Amalie and Maya, but we have a ton of confidence in the leaders on our team and are beyond excited for our young talent who we encouraged to truly invest in themselves in the spring and offseason to be the best student-athletes they can be," Gomez said. "We unwaveringly believe in the talent on our current roster and can't wait to get back to training. We're also extremely eager to bring on our next recruiting class and welcome them into our growing ART U volleyball family as this program continues to pursue new heights."

With the fall season behind them, the Urban Knights will look to advance forward as the program begins preparations for the 2024 season to come.