SURPRISE, Ariz. -- In the quarterfinals of the PacWest Championship Tournament, No. 1 Academy of Art handled business, defeating No. 8 Fresno Pacific 4-0 Thursday afternoon at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex. The top seeded Knights will return to the semifinals for the third straight year where they will take on Sonoma State for the third time this season.

"All the girls played really well," said head coach Clarisse Baca. "We really focused on the start to finish of the matches. That was very important to us. Some of our players have been struggling either starting strong or finishing strong, so I think today was a good indication that we are ready to compete for a conference title."

The Urban Knights started the day with a strong doubles performance. Seniors Taisiia Andrieieva and Paula Alcantara made light work of Marina Lex and Claudia Iglesias winning the first set of the day 6-0. ART U clinched the doubles point shortly after when seniors Alma Thell-Lenntorp and Klara Thell-Lenntorp took down Ioanna Lathouri and Gaya Solomon 6-3. Alcantara notched the first singles point for ART U with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Claudia Iglesias. Ragona came next with a 6-2, 6-1 trounce of Sanne Brull before Klara Thell-Lenntorp clinched the match with her dominant 6-2, 6-0 win.

"I am very happy about how Mariacristina played in her singles match," commented Baca. "Very focused from start to finish. Looking ahead to semis, I'm very confident that if we continue our momentum and focus every point and every game and every set, we are going to come away with a win."

ART U will turn their attention to the semifinals where they will face Sonoma State, whom they have defeated in both of their previous meetings. The match will take place tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex.