SAN FRANCISCO – Academy of Art pulled out a tight four-set contest by scores of 25-21, 25-23, 15-25, 30-28 on Saturday afternoon.

The Urban Knights did just enough to hold edges in kills (55-52), hitting percentage (.179-.170), blocks (11.0-8.0) and digs (78-69).

Melissa Brum led the Academy of Art offense with 19 kills while Stine Raben chipped in a 10-kill performance to aid in the home team victory.

Mattie Shelford led the way for the Cougars with a 20-kill afternoon while posting a solid .381 hitting percentage. On the back lines Ashley Swatek had a team high 17 digs.

A night after upsetting California Baptist, the Urban Knights (9-17, 5-13 PacWest) continued their momentum in the first two sets on Saturday afternoon. A tightly played opening frame was up in the air until the final points. Academy of Art held a 20-19 lead and proceeded to finish the frame on a 5-1 scoring spurt aiding by a pair of kills and two Cougars errors. The second set unfolded in similar fashion as the home team stayed a point or two ahead a majority of the set. After a Shelford kill knotted the score at 23-23, the Urban Knight finished the stanza with back-to-back kills to claim a commanding lead in the match.

Azusa Pacific rebounded nicely in the third set as they took a 7-7 score and nudged that to a 20-12 lead. In that set win the Cougars had plus-four edge in kills while recording a 3-0 advantage in service aces. A back-and-forth stanza ensued as each team had an opportunity to win it. The Cougars (13-14, 9-9) had two set points but couldn't convert before Academy of Art won the match on their third match point.