NCAA Division II West Regionals
No. 9 ART U Urban Knights (17-4) vs. No. 6 Hawaii Pacific Sharks (13-5 PacWest)
Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. HT
Honolulu – University of Hawaii Tennis Complex
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NCAA DIVISON II WEST REGIONALS
Déjà vu. Academy of Art women's tennis is heading to the West Regionals after being ranked No. 3 in the region below BYU-Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific. This will be the third time the Urban Knights have competed in this match and every time they have faced the same opponent: HPU. The Sharks have been a thorn in the Knights' side since the 2014 Regionals when ART U lost in the first round of what has become a storied matchup. The following season, Academy of Art obtained their revenge when they upset HPU in the semifinals of 2015 PacWest Conference Championship. Their 5-3 victory over the Sharks was the program's first-ever win against their opponent from the Aloha State. After being ranked No. 2 in the region, the Urban Knights hosted HPU in the Regional tournament just two weeks later. After a toughly-fought match, HPU managed to come out on top with a 5-2 win. The rivalry was picked up once again in 2016 when two faced off in the conference championship. ART U nearly defeated Hawaii Pacific, but was bested once again, this time by the score of 5-3. Fast forward to 2017, Academy of Art faced the Sharks less than two weeks ago when the two sides squared off yet again in the semifinals of the conference championship. This time, HPU went ahead in doubles 2-1 and ended the match 5-1 before ART U had a chance to mount a comeback. Three singles matches were left unfinished and the Urban Knights led in all three. The Knights' strongest attribute is their dominant doubles-play. If Academy of Art can manage to win at least two points in that portion of the match, they will have a strong chance of defeating the Sharks in Tuesday's West Regional and will advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history.
 
KNIGHTS OF KNOTE
ART U's No. 9 national ranking is tied for the highest in program history and Academy of Art has put together one of their strongest season thanks to a myriad of strong performances. For example, sophomore Alma Thell-Lenntorp was ranked as high as No. 10 in the region in singles and went undefeated against Division II opponents this season (17-0), posting three 6-0,6-0 sweeps. In doubles, she partnered with her sister, Klara Thell-Lenntorp to be ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation and first in the region. The duo has gone 17-2 against DII opponents this year and they won the ITA Western Regionals Doubles Championships in the Fall. The tandem is currently ranked eighth in the nation and second in the region. Sophomore Monika Stanikova has been a strong singles player as well, going 12-5 against her Division II adversaries in the first position. Stanikova is currently No. 48 in the country and 11th in the West Region.
 
SHARKS NO. 6 IN THE NATION
Hawaii Pacific's top doubles team (Lara Meccico and Barbora Kijasova) is ranked No. 24 in the country (fifth in the region) after going 7-5 in the first position and their strongest singles player is Nicole Hoynaski who is ranked No. 2 in the both the country and the region. Overall, the Sharks are 13-5 on the year.
 
LOOKING BACK: ART U BESTED BY NO. 5 HPU IN PACWEST SEMIS
April 21 - No. 11 Academy of Art headed to the semifinals of the PacWest Championship and was met with a familiar foe: No. 5 Hawaii Pacific. It was the third time the two teams faced each other in the conference championship and the second time that two went head-to-head in the semis. However, the Sharks bested the Urban Knights by a score of 5-1 on Friday after taking a 2-1 lead into singles.