SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It was a warm, sunny day Saturday in the South Bay for the Academy of Art University women's tennis team's first warm-up of the 2015 season, as the No. 14 Urban Knights played tough against Santa Clara University before falling 4-0 in an exhibition match at the Degheri Tennis Center.
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"It was a great experience for the girls to get out there and compete against an (NCAA) Division I team," said ART U head coach Nicole Briceño-Garzón. "The score wasn't an indicator of what the match was. We all know what we need to work on and keep getting ready for the season."
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The match began with Academy of Art pushing the Broncos in doubles play. The ART U No. 1 duo of
Nina Gajdosikova and
Jenny Johansson won the first game over Santa Clara's Nabila Farah and Daniella Silva before later falling 6-1.
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ART U's No. 3 doubles pair of
Michelle Dandik Zaale and
Annika Schneider was up on serve 2-1 and 3-2 over Zeina El Tawil and Riley Morgan before dropping a close 4-3 decision.
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Johansson had the most success in singles, battling Farah at the No. 4 slot to a 5-5 tie in the first set and holding the lead in the deciding game before the match was called.
Gabriela Rivas took four games in the first set and was up 3-1 in the second set of her No. 6 matchup versus Danielle Zinn before the match was called.
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"This is a good match for them, an eye-opener," said Briceño-Garzón, "because they know they can do it and compete against these teams."
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Academy of Art opens its 2015 regular season at Dominican University of California on Feb. 14.