TURLOCK, Calif. – Up against tournament host Stanislaus State on Friday back inside Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena, Academy of Art volleyball experienced a bit of déjà vu as another late comeback attempt was thwarted with the Warriors surviving for a 3-2 win (25-18, 25-20, 21-25, 23-25, 15-9). It was the second consecutive match with four Urban Knights registering double-digit digs and double-doubles once again for graduate student outside hitters Amalie Rupertova and Maya McClellan along with junior setter Elly McInerney.

A 10-4 opening run by Stanislaus State proved to be the difference in the first set as the teams traded points until freshman middle blocker/outside hitter Alohi Garcia rattled off three of her kills to help ART U cut the deficit to four on two occasions. Carrying the momentum of a 25-18 victory, the Warriors once again established an early 10-5 advantage in the second frame. A kill by Rupertova started a 6-1 run to shorten the difference to 22-19, but the home team would gain a two-set lead after closing the 25-20 result.

Closely contested through the first 30 points, the third frame saw neither team gain more than a single-point advantage until Stanislaus State briefly went up 17-15. That was immediately met by seven straight points by the Urban Knights with Garcia, McInerney, and Rupertova putting away kills and McClellan adding a service ace. Fine with trading scores the rest of the way, Academy of Art reached the scoreboard with a 25-21 win to begin its comeback.

Dominating offensively and defensively to start the fourth set, ART U rattled off eight consecutive scores with graduate student middle blocker Chandra Reed recording multiple kills and multiple blocks. The Warriors came back with six points of their own to keep things competitive, but the Knights once again rose up 13-8 on four unanswered. Momentum shifted back to Stan State in the form of a 22-20 margin yet, with five of the next six points, Academy of Art utilized kills by Rupertova, one from sophomore middle blocker Kaia Fittz, and a service ace off the hand of junior setter Lina Ellilä for a match-evening 25-23 ending.

Though the fifth frame began with the Warriors in front 8-4, ART U fought back by way of kills from all its four leading hitters, but the home team secured three final points down the stretch to capture a 15-9 victory.

Academy of Art, now 0-2 overall in 2023, was led by Rupertova's 17 kills and 14 digs for her second consecutive double-double while McClellan was just off her debut numbers, collecting 16 kills and 14 digs plus four service aces. McInerney improved both of her totals from Thursday with 35 assists and 14 digs. Garcia wrapped up with seven kills and freshman libero LC-Reece Nakagawa finished with 15 digs to lead the squad.

Improving to 1-1 on the season, Stanislaus State got 10 kills from Autumn Kirby, 18 assists from Eyriana Eatmon, and 19 digs from Gabby Rawson.

ART U will close out the Stan State Tournament tomorrow with a 9 a.m. matchup versus Western Oregon followed by a 4:30 p.m. pairing with Western New Mexico.