HONOLULU — Hawai'i Pacific University got back on the winning track in handling Academy of Art 3-1 on Saturday night in PacWest Conference play in James Castle Gym at St. Andrew's Priory.
 
The Sharks (5-7, 3-1) downed the Urban Knights (2-8, 0-4) 25-20, 25-20, 18-25, 25-19.
 
"We did a lot of things well," said head coach Jenic Tumaneng. "We got the win, but we are still needing to work on our consistency of play."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
 
HPU was led by a trio of freshmen, Cameryn Collie of El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge, Jade Gillespie of Los Gatos, Calif./ Valley Christian, and Abigail Wilmington of Vancouver, Wash./Columbia River.  Collie posted 10 kills, while Gillespie and Wilmington posted nine kills each. Wilmington, senior Lea Felton of Sacramento, Calif./St. Francis, and senior Alyson Brunner of Willows, Calif./Willow, each posted two blocks.
 
Bailey Soolsma led the Urban Knights with 17 kills with a .371 hitting percentage, while Kimiah Johnson added 13 kills. Safua Elisaia and Jennifer Argelander each posted five blocks.
 
As a team, HPU hit .193 with 5.0 team blocks, while ArtU hit .294 with 10.0 team blocks.
 
The Sharks claimed the first set 25-20, opening with an 11-3 run, but having to hang on when the Urban Knights made a late run to get to 20-19. HPU righted the ship with a closeout 5-1 run to win the set on a kill by Felton.
 
The second set was one of runs as the Sharks went up 14-10 before ArtU answered with a 6-0 run to take the lead. The teams fought to a tie at 20-all before HPU used a block by Felton and Brunner to key a set-winning 5-0 run capped by a Brunner block of Soolsma for a 25-20 win.
 
The third set belonged to ArtU from the get-go, as the Urban Knights opened with a 9-3 run and continued to a 17-8 advantage before the Sharks mad a real comeback attempt. HPU picked up four of the next five points to go to 18-12, but ArtU withstood two more run attempts to pull out a 25-18 win.
 
In the final set, HPU got out to a 5-1 lead and worked it to a 10-5 advantage before allowing a 4-0 run to make it 10-9 after an ace by ArtU's Alana Lucas. After trading points the Sharks built a three-point lead as they moved the score to 20-17. A Collie kill sparked a 3-0 run with Kayley Mohr's service ace pushing the score to 23-17.
 
The Urban Knight grabbed their final two points before Wilmington's kill set up set point for HPU, and Gillespie's kill followed for a 25-19 win and the match.
 
HPU is idle until Friday, when the Sharks host PacWest co-leader Azusa Pacific in a 7 p.m. match at the Priory's Castle Gym. They closeout a six-match homestand next Saturday at 7 p.m. against PacWest newcomer Biola.