Match Results
San Rafael, CA – In their final game before heading to Hawaii for the PacWest Championships, the Academy of Art University's tennis team faced Dominican University on Sunday afternoon. Coming off a tough defeat just two days earlier, the Urban Knights came out ready to get back on the winning track in today's match. The Knights wasted little time taking control of things, and quickly ran away with the match. ART U ended up coming away with a 8-1 victory over the hosting Dominican Penguins.
The match began with doubles play in which the Knights dominated the competition. The first pairing saw Kunkanda "Cartoon" Phukchampa and Laone "Lala" Botshoma teamed up. The two went to work right away, and set the tone for their team winning their match with a score of 8-6. In the No. 2 spot, Amal Ben El Hadj and Diane Phan teamed up and came away with a big victory, winning 8-1. In the third and final doubles spot, Maria "Belen" Tenorio and Cecilia Hedin proved very powerful, and came up with a big defeat over their opponents winning 8-4.
With a 3-0 lead in the match, the ART U women were in control of things and never looked back. The team let the momentum from doubles carry into their singles play. Phukchampa competed in the No. 1 singles spot and led the way for her team. She battled through three set before defeating her Penguins opponent with scores of 5-3, 7-5, 7-5. In the No. 2 spot was Botshoma who kept things going with a win over her challenger 6-4, 6-1. She was followed by Ben El Hadj who showed her strength when she won her match in two sets, 6-2, 6-1. In the No. 4 spot was Phan who followed her teammates in front of her by easily defeating her opponent 6-1, 6-0. Rounding things out was Courtney DeWalt who won with scores of 6-1, 6-2, and in the No. 6 spot was Paola Correa Fe who secured the sweep of the Penguins by winning her match 6-4, 4-6, 10-8.
The Urban Knights showed their strength in the match, and proved that they are more ready than ever to take on the competition at the Pacific West Championships. After today's win, the Academy of Art University's record improves to 10-3 overall, and Dominican University's record falls to 5-10 overall. The Knights head to Hawaii at the start of next week to compete in their next contest which is against BYU Hawaii on April 12th. Start time is still to be determined. The Knights immediately follow by competing in the PacWest Championships which begin on April 14th.
