SAN FRANCISCO – Traveling its shortest distance of the season, Academy of Art women's tennis faced off against NCAA Division I San Francisco on Tuesday at the Olympic Club. Though the Dons walked away 7-0 winners, it was not without a fight from the Urban Knights.

In doubles, both the top and third positions for ART U hung right with their respective opponents, trading games in the early going. The end result, however, was a pair of 6-3 victories for USF as Maria Vaquero and Chiho Mushika defeated sophomores Sofia Ragona and Yun "Nicole" Shiau and Caragh Courtney with Azaria Hayes topped freshmen Aitana Comas Adam and Erica Hellbe.

With the doubles point in hand, San Francisco found itself in several close battles throughout singles play. At #3, freshman Maria Vittoria Casucci was up to start each of her sets against Mushika, but the latter rallied back for the win 6-4, 7-5. Versus Vaquero in the first position, Ragona offered a strong second set despite falling 6-2, 6-4. Both Shiau and Comas Adam pushed their opponents, Rita Colyer and Arianna Capogrosso respectively, into third sets at #2 and #3, but could not secure the wins. A hard-fought pairing in the sixth spot saw freshman Julia Ortega force a first set tiebreaker against Hayes.

ART U will play its first home match of 2021 when the Urban Knights host Fresno Pacific this Saturday, Feb. 20 at 1 p.m. at the Bay Club SF Tennis (South SF) in Daly City.

"Even though the result was what it was, the team is committed to improvement and we will keep working on those little details to get ready for our next match," said Head Coach Clarisse Baca.