SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Carrying the momentum of two Pacific West Conference wins into Thursday evening's matchup with Dominican, Academy of Art volleyball achieved a new season-high hitting percentage in a victorious opening set, but the Penguins steadily rallied back to prevail 3-1 (19-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-21) inside their Conlan Center.

Kills by junior right side/middle blocker Katherine Von Kraut and graduate student middle blocker/outside hitter Fina Tuinauvai helped ART U establish a 7-4 lead to start before the Knights broke a 9-9 tie with a 6-2 burst that featured multiple put-aways by Von Kraut and senior setter Elly McInerney. Academy of Art fended off one last Dominican comeback attempt to prevail 25-19 in a set that saw Von Kraut log seven kills with no errors to lead her squad's .433 hitting percentage, a season-best for a single set.

Though Tuinauvai offered a pair of kills to bring ART U within one at 7-6 early in the second frame, a 4-1 push followed soon by three unanswered points had the Penguins in front 16-11. Sophomore outside hitter Paola Divis sent down kills to keep her team close and, though McInerney was at the forefront of four consecutive scores down the stretch, Dominican's final separation earned the home team a 25-19 final to even the match.

A grand total of 12 ties brought the two sides to a 15-15 deadlock in a competitive third set. Sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Alohi Garcia registered multiple kills to keep Academy of Art within striking distance, but two separate 4-0 runs enabled the Penguins to come away with the 25-19 result in their favor.

Dominican's 7-2 opening to the fourth frame was quickly cut to three on Von Kraut's continued success yet ART U would not come that close again until an 8-3 surge had the score at 22-19. Graduate student middle blocker Chandra Reed delivered back-to-back block solos during that momentum shift, however, the Penguins responded by taking three of the last five points, securing the 25-21 victory in the process.

ART U moves to 3-8 on the year and 2-1 in PacWest play as Von Kraut's season-high 16 kills led the team offensively followed by 11 kills from Tuinauvai and the tandem would combine for just four errors with the latter hitting a season-best .455. Seven kills marked a new career-high for McInerney who filled the stat sheet with 28 assists and six digs as well. Both sophomore libero LC-Reece Nakagawa and freshman libero/defensive specialist Kyriah Trefren reached double figures with 14 and 11 digs respectively.

Dominican, who improves to 3-6 overall and joins Academy of Art with a 2-1 conference record, relied on 13 kills plus 10 digs from Regan Macha.

The Urban Knights will next be at home for the first time this season as ART U hosts No. 6 Chaminade this Sunday, Sept. 29 at 1 p.m. from Kezar Pavilion.