Match #14
ART U Urban Knights (3-10, 2-3 PacWest) vs. Hawaii Pacific Sharks (1-9, 1-3 PacWest)
Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024 at 2 p.m.
San Francisco – Kezar Pavilion
Live Stats | Live Video

Match #15
ART U Urban Knights (3-10, 2-3 PacWest) vs. Concordia Golden Eagles (5-7, 0-4 PacWest)
Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024 at 6:30 p.m.
San Francisco – Kezar Pavilion
Live Stats | Live Video

Match #16
ART U Urban Knights (3-10, 2-3 PacWest) vs. Vanguard Lions (4-4, 1-3 PacWest)
Friday, Oct. 11, 2024 at 6:30 p.m.
San Francisco – Kezar Pavilion
Live Stats | Live Video

Match #17
ART U Urban Knights (3-10, 2-3 PacWest) vs. No. 17 Point Loma Sea Lions (11-0, 5-0 PacWest)
Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024 at 2 p.m.
San Francisco – Kezar Pavilion
Live Stats | Live Video

ART U REMATCHES HPU, FACES CUI, VU, PLNU TO WRAP HOMESTAND
Playing four Pacific West Conference matches over the coming week, Academy of Art volleyball continues its six-part homestand by hosting Hawaii Pacific this weekend before welcoming Concordia, Vanguard, and No. 17 Point Loma to the Bay Area next week.

FIRST SERVE
Remaining inside Kezar Pavilion for the next four contests, ART U meets HPU this Saturday, Oct. 5 at 2 p.m., goes up against CUI on Wednesday, Oct. 9 and VU on Friday, Oct. 11 both at 6:30 p.m., then wraps up by hosting PLNU on Saturday, Oct. 12 again at 2 p.m. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights via the athletics app (Apple App Store, Google Play Store) and on Twitter & Instagram, as well as "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

KNIGHT WATCH
Now with four Urban Knights averaging over 2.00 kills per set, Academy of Art has turned to sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Alohi Garcia (2.42), graduate student opposite Claire Ricard (2.26), freshman outside hitter Kerrigan Habing (2.21), and junior right side/middle blocker Katherine Von Kraut (2.02) on the offensive side while sophomore outside hitter Paola Divis comes off a season-best 16-kill performance. Senior setter Elly McInerney is up to 1,644 assists in her career (fourth in ART U history) and currently ranks fourth in the conference with 8.17 assist per set with three double-doubles on the season. Having posted eight consecutive double-digit dig efforts, sophomore libero LC-Reece Nakagawa has settled at eighth in the PacWest at 3.85 digs per set while adding the ninth-most service aces per set (0.41). Graduate student middle blocker/outside hitter Fina Tuinauvai and sophomore right side/middle blocker Katherine Von Kraut are atop the team's blocks per set list at 0.71 and 0.70 respectively.

ROUND TWO WITH HPU
Since its 3-0 loss to ART U on Sept. 21, Hawaii Pacific has split a pair on the mainland, falling to Menlo 3-2 before besting Dominican also in five sets for the Sharks' first win of the season. The trio of Sophia Cooper, Ella Schoene, and Lindsey Tapp lead HPU, who faces Fresno Pacific on Oct. 3, with 1.8 kills per set while Tehani Pescaia checks in at seventh in the conference with 6.86 assists per set. Exchanging wins and losses with Academy of Art since 2021, Hawaii Pacific holds a 19-8 lead over the Knights historically.

COVERING CONCORDIA
In their first year under new Head Coach Eryn Leja-Martin, the Golden Eagles have started at 5-7 overall but have yet to win a conference match in four tries thus far (with Westmont on Oct. 3 and Biola on Oct. 5 still to come). Concordia has dropped two to undefeated Point Loma as well as singular matches to Fresno Pacific and Azusa Pacific to open PacWest play. Fifth in the PacWest in both blocks (1.81) and digs (15.73) per set, CUI has relied on Delaney Gregg, who ranks fifth in the conference in hitting percentage (.322) and ninth in blocks per set (0.80), and Kennedy Farley with her team-best 2.91 kills per set. Though ART U won the most recent matchup last October, the all-time series favors the Golden Eagles 11-3.

LEARNING THE LIONS
Sporting a 3-1 record heading into conference play, Vanguard's first four PacWest matches have seen three losses to one win (all against Southern California teams) with matchups against BU (Oct. 3) and APU (Oct. 5) still on the way. The Lions rank third in the PacWest in digs (16.15) and service aces (1.93) per set and are led by Morgan Cole's 3.25 kills per set (fifth in PacWest) as well as Madeline DeLucia's conference-best 0.62 service aces per set. The meeting of Academy of Art and Vanguard will be the first to date.

POINT LOMA POINTERS
Undefeated through their first 11 matches and ranked No. 17 nationally, Point Loma has dropped just five sets to date (one in two matches with Concordia) with pairings to come against Azusa Pacific (Oct. 3) and Jessup (Oct. 10). The Sea Lions rank first in the conference in points (18.37), assists (12.79), blocks (2.68), and service aces (2.08) per set with Abigail Nua topping the PacWest rankings in kills per set (4.18, top 20 in NCAA Division II) along with Sophia Baugh in assists per set (10.21), and Avery Allemann in blocks per set (1.29). PLNU leads ART U 18-1 in this historical matchup.

KNIGHTS RALLY IN THIRD SET, VULCANS CAPTURE REMATCH
Back inside Kezar Pavilion for a Pacific West Conference rematch with UH Hilo on Oct. 1, Academy of Art volleyball began to mount a comeback with a win in the third set, but the Vulcans went on one too many runs in the final frame to win 3-1 (25-23, 25-21, 20-25, 25-22) despite sophomore outside hitter Paola Divis' season-high 16 kills.

LOOKING AHEAD
With its homestand complete, ART U will travel to Menlo on Oct. 19 as PacWest action continues on.