Match Results

Turlock, CA -- A day after their match with Sonoma State was postponed due to a blackout in San Francisco, the Urban Knights tennis team was stymied by a tough Cal State Stanislaus team on Sunday afternoon, falling 7-2 to the Warriors. Diane Phan won the lone singles match for the Knights (3-5), and Courtney DeWalt and Daniela Amelunge Antelo won the #3 doubles match for the ART U victories.

“[Cal State Stanislaus] is a tough team and their top players are very good," said head coach Jerry Peach. "I think we just got beat by a better team today. We need to get back to work because we still have time to get better and turn some corners. That's what we are working on."

Stanislaus (3-1) was led by Verena Preikschas, who teamed up with Katie Eng to defeat Kunkanda "Cartoon" Phukchampa and Amal Ben El Hadj in doubles play 8-4. The Knights didn't fare so well in the second doubles match either, dropping the contest 8-1 to Devina Meza and Kelsey Chrisco. But DeWalt and Amelunge sat down McKenzy Harden and Heather Cotter with a hard-fought 8-6 victory to come away with a point after doubles play.

"In terms of match play, when you lose two of three doubles you put yourself behind the eight ball, but we got one so that kept us in match which was encouraging," Peach said. "It just meant that we needed four more points to get that team win and we were playing a tough team."

Entering singles play, Preikschas defeated Phukchampa in their one-on-one matchup 6-2, 6-3, and Eng and Meza followed suit, defeating Ben El Hadj and Jenny Johansson in straight sets. But Diane Phan came out with a resounding win in the four spot, winning 6-1, 6-2 over Chrisco. The Knights fought hard in the last two matches of the day, but Maria "Belen" Tenorio (6-3, 6-4) and Paola Correa Fe (6-4, 6-3) fell to their Warriors counterparts to end the match.

“Diane coming back off her injury and playing for the first time was good," Peach said. "It was good to get her back and Daniela back. We will have a second chance when play them at home, and I think we'll be ready by then."

The Knights play again in the Dixie State Tournament, where they'll take on the host Red Storm on March 2 before facing off against Southern Utah University and Colorado Mesa University on March 3.