DALY CITY, Calif. – Academy of Art women's tennis began the month of March with as close of a battle as it gets on Monday. Tied 3-3 with one singles match left, the Urban Knights ended up barely falling to Biola 4-3 after a third set tiebreaker went the Eagles way.

After all three doubles pairings and the singular point went to Biola, singles action began with freshman Maria Vittoria Casucci evening the score with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Brooke Fager in the second position. BU rose ahead once more with wins in the final two spots, but sophomores Sofia Ragona and Yun "Nicole" Shiau retied the score at 3-3 with their straight-set triumphs at #1 and #2. Ragona bettered Colbeyshae Emery 7-5, 6-4 and Shiau topped Gaby Carvajal 7-5, 6-0.

Everything came down to the fourth singles slot where freshman Erica Hellbe and Lilly McNeill were locked in a back-and-forth matchup. After trading 6-4 set wins, the third set came down to a 6-6 standstill resulting in a tiebreaker. Continuing the mirror match that had occurred to that point, it was not until McNeill won the final point for a 7-5 win and the match for her team 4-3.

"Shoutout to Erica as she was able to experience a tough match in only fourth as a freshman," said Head Coach Clarisse Baca. "I'm very happy she got into that third set, stayed competitive, and kept fighting. Unfortunately we didn't come away with the win, but at the end of the day, these are the matches that are going to give us the experience we need to continue to grow stronger and move forward."

When ART U next takes the court it will be against NCAA Division I Santa Clara this Sunday, Mar. 7 at Degheri Tennis Center.