SAN FRANCISCO - #11 Fresno Pacific concluded PacWest play on Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 (17-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-19) victory over Academy of Art University. 

The Sunbirds finished in second place in their first season in the PacWest and NCAA Division II, narrowly missing a conference title with a 15-1 conference record and 23-2 overall record. The lone loss came in a thrilling five set match against PacWest champion BYU-Hawaii.

“I am really happy with our performance over the year,” said head coach Kelly Winter about the second place finish. “This team has done a really good job of battling all year. This is an awesome group, but we still have a lot more potential to really dominate.”

The Sunbirds overcame a set one loss to defeat the Urban Knights (8-18, 5-11 PacWest) on the road, winning three straight sets in the process. Four Sunbirds finished with double digit kills to pace the offense in the victory with Karah Mitchell leading with 13, Rupia Inck 12, Kathleen Anderson 11 and Jessie Alcorn 10. 

FPU struggled in the first set, committing 11 attack errors for a .025 hitting percentage in the 25-17 loss. ARTU jumped out to a 11-6 lead before the Sunbirds cut the lead to one behind two blocks and a kill from Anderson at 11-10. 

The Urban Knights responded however, finishing the set on a 14-7 run sparked by Lindsay Elgin (12 total kills), who totaled 4 kills in the set. ARTU finished off the set victory with an ace.

Fresno Pacific responded in the second set behind six kills from Alcorn. The two teams exchanged kills throughout the set as the Sunbirds managed to cling on to a two point lead on multiple occasions.

With the score 21-19 in the Sunbirds favor, three Adachi kills down the stretch would clinch the set two victory 25-21 to tie the match at 1-1.

Set three was a game of runs, with the Sunbirds jumping out to a 4-1 lead behind an Anderson ace. ARTU would respond with a 6-0 run a few points later to tie the set at 9-9.

FPU then put a run of their own, a 10-5 run sparked by an Anderson and Inck block to put the score at 18-13. The Sunbirds looked in control to finish off the set, but the Urban Knights would climb all the way back into the set and take a 21-20 lead before a key service error halted the ARTU run.

The Sunbirds would capitalize on the error and close the set on a 4-0 run powered by a Hannah Butler ace and two kills and a block from Anderson to win 25-21.

The final set was highlighted by an Adachi block that forced an ARTU timeout with the score 16-14, followed by an Anderson ace to deflate the Urban Knights. FPU finished off the set with another Butler ace to win the set and match 3-1.

Fresno Pacific received a double-double of 21 assists and 21 digs from Adachi, 25 assists from Emily Carroll and 24 digs from Butler in the victory.

“The set loss got to the girls,” said Winter. “The girls were frustrated but they did a good job of pulling together, playing as a team and not worrying about individual performances to win.”

FPU travels to Irvine to take on Concordia on Tuesday, November 13 at 12:00 pm. The Eagles are currently ranked #1 in the NAIA and stand at 29-0 on the season. It marks the final tuneup for the Sunbirds before the host an NCCAA regional playoff matchup on Saturday, November 17 at 7 against the winner of Azusa Pacific or California Baptist.