SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Senior libero Blair Dodge surpassed the 1,000 career dig mark in Friday's women's volleyball PacWest Conference showdown against Academy of Art inside Kezar Pavilion. 

The Lions dropped the 25-21, 23-25, 25-18, 25-20 battle to the Urban Knights, but Dodge led all players with 16 digs to raise her career total to 1,004. It was the eighth straight match this season in which Dodge reached double-digit digs. She ranks sixth in the PacWest with 4.18 digs per set.

Junior Adeline Galvanoni had another excellent performance with a match-high 14 kills on .433 hitting. She had just one error in 30 swings, and the Chandler, Ariz. native has hit .400 or better in three of the last five contests. Twelve of her 14 kills were logged over the first two sets when the match was tied at one set apiece.

San Francisco native Alister Borabo followed with nine kills, and Kayla Robinson had eight on a night in which VU managed to hit just .128 (45-27-141) for the match.

The Urban Knights received balanced contributions from a host of players, with Katherine Von Kraut and Kerrigan Habing leading the way at 13 kills apiece. Paola Divis added 10 kills, and Claire Ricard and Fina Tuinauvai chipped in nine and seven, respectively.

Academy of Art hit .212 for the match, owning the edge over the Blue and Gold in kills (55-45), service aces (9-2) and total blocks (8.0-5.0). Divis finished with a 10-kill, 12-dig double-double.

VU is now 5-6 on the season overall and 2-5 in the PacWest standings. ARTU moved to 5-11 and 4-4 in league action.

What Happened?

Set 1 – The Lions scored the first two points of the match and also led 4-2, but the Urban Knights countered with a 5-2 run to grab a 7-6 lead.

The two teams slogged through 11 ties to remain deadlocked at 16-16, with Galvanoni posting all five of her first set kills at that juncture. The turning point came when ARTU, trailing 16-15, went on a 6-0 scoring run to seize a five-point lead. Habing's kill put ARTU up 21-16 late.

VU could not muster any momentum from there, as Chandra Reed and Habing recorded an assisted block to finish out the set up 25-21. 

ARTU hit .190 (13-5-42) in the frame while VU had nine attack errors en route to swinging just .093.

Set 2 – Galvanoni put on a show with six of her seven kills occurring after the Lions trailed 13-10. Two ARTU service errors and a Payton Darm service ace helped offset a pair of 3-0 mini runs by the Urban Knights to get to that point.

ARTU built its largest lead at 18-14 when the Lions answered with four of the next five points to close within 19-18. Three straight Galvanoni kills helped VU knot the set at 20-20, and Borabo's slam gave the visitors their first lead in the set.

The Lions collected seven of the last 10 points to win 25-23. With the score tied 23-all, Galvanoni pounded a kill, and Borabo and Darm stuffed Von Kraut to seal the victory. 

The Blue and Gold hit a match-best .242 (13-5-33) to even the match at a set apiece. ARTU swung at a .235 (14-6-34) clip.

Set 3 – Similar to set one, the Urban Knights ran away from the Lions with a late 6-0 run. 

With the score tied at 3-3, ARTU reeled off five straight points – three due to VU attack errors. But the Lions responded with a 4-0 run – three on ARTU wayward swings – and polished off by a Morgan Cole slam.

Three consecutive Lion points concluded a 7-1 run and outfitted the Blue and Gold with a 10-9 lead. The Lions did a great job locking up Habing, who had helped VU's cause with four attack errors to that point. But Habing responded with back-to-back kills as ARTU reclaimed the 11-10 lead.

The two teams then went back-and-forth until VU led for the last time at 15-14. ARTU's onslaught commenced from there, getting its six straight points via kills from Tuinauvai, Ricard and Habing, two VU attack errors and a Divis ace.

Trailing 20-15, the Lions could not overcome the deficit. ARTU won 25-18 after hitting .229 and holding the Lions to -.036 efficiency.

Set 4 – The Lions pounced out to a 4-1 advantage, but that glimpse of hope evaporated quickly as the Urban Knights responded with an 11-2 run. The last six points of that surge belonged to ARTU, including a pair of aces off the serve of Lina Ellila. 

Trailing 12-6, VU battled back and eventually trimmed the deficit down to 15-13 following back-to-back Galvanoni kills.

But a 4-1 ARTU run extended the lead to 19-14. VU had one last push, getting blocks from Darm, Galvanoni and Delaney Hill to register a pair of points. A Hill kill and Divis attack error pushed the Lions within 20-18, but that was as close as they would get.

Two service errors derailed VU down the stretch as ARTU polished off the 25-20 triumph. The two teams hit similarly in the frame, with ARTU recording a .200 (13-6-35) stat line and VU chiming in at .189 (12-5-37).

What's Next?: The Lions return to action in less than 24 hours, squaring off at Menlo with a 1:00 p.m. first serve on Saturday.