ELLENSBURG -- Priscilla Collings had 15 kills, including one that gave Seattle Pacific a try at match point in the fifth game, but San Francisco's Academy of Art fought it off and came back to pull out the victory in the opening match of the Central Washington Tournament on Thursday.

Scores in Nicholson Pavilion were 25-16, 24-26, 27-25, 16-25, 16-14.

The road got even tougher on Thursday night, as 24^th-ranked Sonoma State swept past the Falcons in CWU's Student Union & Recreation Center, 25-15, 25-19, 25-11.

"It was a disappointing day for sure," SPU coach Chris Johnson said. "We played just a little bit too tentatively against Academy of Art and paid for it. Against Sonoma, we just got overpowered. We were taking much better swings and we stayed aggressive throughout the match. But they hit over .300 every game. They're a very good team."

Seattle Pacific (2-5) plays its final two matches of the tournament on Friday. The Falcons take on defending Pacific West Conference champion Brigham Young-Hawaii at 3 p.m. (live stats on this link), then face The Evergreen State College of Olympia at 7 p.m. (live stats on this link) .

In the opening match against Academy of Art, the Falcons had leads of 5-1 and 11-8 in the decisive fifth game. The Urban Knights came back to tie it at 11-11 before SPU went up 12-11, 13-12 and 14-13. After tying it at 14-14, Dan Yang got kills on the final two points for Academy of Art.

The Falcons (2-4), who dropped a five-gamer to Hawaii Hilo on Wednesday afternoon in Brougham Pavilion, had leads of 5-1 and 11-8 in the decisive fifth game against Academy of Art (4-1). The Urban Knights came back to tie it at 11-11 before SPU went up 12-11, 13-12 and 14-13.

After tying it at 14-14, Dan Yang got kills on the final two points for the Knights.

"We just have to make sure we're putting everything together at the right time," Johnson said. "We have to utilize all of our abilities at once. We didn't have consistent outside hitting at all in that match."

Collings (Chula Vista, Calif.) came off the bench to lead the Falcons in kills on Thursday morning. Junior outside Sarah Risser (Santa Barbara, Calif.) added 11. Senior setter Cortney Weedman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) racked up 28 assists, and junior setter Joelle Perez (Vancouver, Wash./Heritage HS) added 20.

Sophomore middle blocker Amber Johnson (Mount Vernon, Wash./Mount Vernon HS) tied her career high with seven total blocks, including one solo. Sophomore libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS) came up with 15 digs.

SPU was nearly down two games after dropping the first and finding itself in a 24-20 hole in the second. But Collings came up with three straight kills to make it 24-23, and Academy of Art then made three consecutive errors to help the Falcons polish off a 6-0 game-ending run.

The Knights turned the tables in Game 3, erasing a 24-22 deficit by scoring five of the final six points to take a 2-1 lead in games. Seattle Pacific led all the way in dominating Game 4.

"It was good to see us come from behind twice and come back and win games," Johnson said. "It's tough, because that (match) goes into the loss column. One ball here or there could have made a difference."

The nationally-ranked Seawolves spotted SPU the first point of the match, but scored the next three points, then strung together four straight to snap a 3-3 tie and led the rest of the way in Game 1.

Seattle Pacific wiped out an early 4-1 deficit in the second game and was in a 9-9 tie when Sonoma State put the next three points on the board to take the lead for good.

The Falcons were down just 11-9 in the third game, but the Seawolves ran off the next eight points for a 19-9 advantage.

Sonoma State hit a whopping .380 for the match, posting 48 kills and just 10 errors on 100 total attacks. Seattle Pacific, after hitting just .099 against Academy of Art on Thursday morning, wound up at .157 against the Seawolves.

Weedman and Perez each had 11 assists against Sonoma, and Herold came up with 13 digs.

Keala Peterson led Sonoma State with 14 kills and hit .364. Alyson Sather had 13 kills and hit even better at .409.

NCAA Volleyball
Central Washington Tournament
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Nicholson Pavilion/Ellensburg, Wash.

Academy of Art 3, Seattle Pacific 2

Game scores -- 25-16, 24-26, 27-25, 16-25, 16-14.
Service aces -- SPU: Joelle Perez 3. AA: Three players with 1.
Kills -- SPU: Priscilla Collings 15, Sarah Risser 11, Amber Johnson 8, Angie Pricco 7. AA: Dan Yang 19, Amy Bush 10.
Blocks -- SPU: A. Johnson 7, Jessica Bettecourt 5. AA: Bush 10, Yang 7.
Assists -- SPU: Cortney Weedman 28, Perez 20. AA: Cheng 46.
Digs -- SPU: Anna Herold 15, Risser 12. AA: Nicolette Hagan 21, Yang 15.
Attendance -- 112.

Records
Seattle Pacific 2-4, 0-0.
Academy of Art 4-1, 0-0.

(#24) Sonoma State 3, Seattle Pacific 0
At Student Union and Recreation Center

Game scores -- 25-15, 25-19, 25-11.
Service aces -- SPU: Two players tied with 1. SSU: Marianne Fox 2.
Kills -- SPU: Sarah Risser 11, Paige Hoffman 6, Lindsey Wodrich 6. SSU: Keala Peterson 14, Allyson Sather 13.
Blocks -- SPU: Three players tied with 1. SSU: Rikki Buckshnis 2.
Assists -- SPU: Cortney Weedman 11, Joelle Perez 11. SSU: Lindsey Brown 33.
Digs -- SPU: Anna Herold 13. SSU Taylor Krenwinkel 18.
Attendance -- NA.

Records
Seattle Pacific 2-5, 0-0.
Sonoma State 6-0, 0-0.

Next match -- Seattle Pacific vs Brigham Young-Hawaii, Friday, 3 p.m. at Central Washington Tournament (Ellensburg).