Match Results
Santa Rosa, CA – The Academy of Art University's women's tennis team faced Hawaii Hilo on Thursday afternoon. It had been just under a week since the two teams had last played each other, in the final match-up in the PacWest Championships. The match was held at a neutral site at Santa Rosa Community College. The two teams came out to play, but the Knights seemed mentally drained, and had their focus on the upcoming OJAI tournament. After a well played match, ART U came up just short losing to the Vulcan's with a score of 3-6.
“As normal, we came out and were the aggressors, but it is a game of inches and that was the difference in this match,” Head Coach Dave Allen said. “I feel like our doubles was some of the best I've seen us play all year long. Where we fell short was in our singles play because it was not as sharp as I'm used to. Competing at the level we're competing at, this is a team we beat fairly handily the week prior and I think there's a chance we may have gotten a little bit ahead of ourselves.”
The Urban Knights did come out very strong in doubles play, taking two of the three matches. The duo of Kunkanda "Cartoon" Phukchampa and Amal Ben El Hadj proved to be very powerful as they defeated their challengers with a score of 8-6. Laone "Lala" Botshoma and Paola Corre Fe teamed up in the No.2 spot and won their match 8-5. In the third and final doubles match Maria "Belen" Tenorio and Cecilia Hedin fought hard but ultimately fell losing 4-8.
ART U faltered slightly in singles play and that's where the Vulcans made up the difference. Phukchampa was in the No. 1 slot for the Knights and battled through three sets with her opponent before falling with scores of 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. But the team came right back when Ben El Hadj won her match in the No. 2 spot. She came out victorious winning in three sets, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3. The Knights would then drop the next four singles matches despite the very close scores. At the end of the day, ART U was barely edged out in the match losing 3-6.
“Courtney DeWalt played extremely well and competed very well,” Coach Allen remarked. “I was happy to see her in the lineup today. Across the board, all of our team played very well, but I could tell they were a little mentally fatigued. That is just the reality of being a student-athlete in an individual sport such as tennis.”
The Urban Knights now have a few days rest before one of the most challenging tournaments of the season. Teams from all over the country travel to compete in the highly anticipated OJAI tournament. Some of ART U's players have experience in the tournament, and the team will look to them to lead the way. After such a strong 2011 season, the Knights will leave everything they have out on the courts at the tournament.
“The team has done extremely well this season and it has been the best season thus far,” Coach Allen stated. “This can still be a very good thing for us just prior to one of the most coveted tournaments in the United States, the Ojai Tournament. Our number one player, Cartoon, won this tournament last year at her junior college and she played Amal in the championship finals so I have every reason to be optimistic going into this year's tournament. And you can imagine how exciting a time this is for our team.”
The OJAI tournament will take place starting April 28th and continue through May 1st in Ojai Valley, CA. Match times are to be determined.
