DALY CITY, Calif. – The momentum of a doubles sweep rolled right into singles as Academy of Art women's tennis took down No. 25 UH Hilo, a team that had recently defeated Hawaii Pacific (ranked No. 5 at the time), by a final score of 7-0 at the Bay Club SF Tennis (South SF) on Tuesday.

"After our close loss to Biola, we took a step back and analyzed what we were doing right and what we were doing wrong; not only in competition, but also in practice," said Head Coach Clarisse Baca. "We took it to heart and, for the last two weeks, we've been working on both the technique and strategy aspects of our game in addition to having time to work on our fitness and recover. This 7-0 result today is a product of the work we've been doing the last two weeks and now we're confident we can get out there and compete at the highest level. I'm very excited to continue this momentum and bring it to the conference championship."

No Vulcans pairing was allowed more than three games in doubles with freshmen Maria Vittoria Casucci and Julia Ortega besting Carmelle Joyner and Anouk Van Hoek 6-1 in the second spot followed by a 6-2 win for freshmen Aitana Comas Adam and Erica Hellbe over Sandra Dafincescu and Hikari Osaki at three. Though the doubles point was already in hand, sophomores Sofia Ragona and Yun "Nicole" Shiau added a 6-3 victory over Carolina Alfonsin and Hannah Highsmith in the top position for good measure.

In singles, Ortega's confident 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Van Hoek in the sixth slot was quickly followed by a 6-1, 6-1 result putting Shiau over Alfonsin to give the Urban Knights a 3-0 advantage. Ragona and Casucci won their singles matches in straight sets with the former handling Dafincescu 6-2, 6-4 and the latter overwhelming Osaki 7-5, 6-3.

The match would play out beyond the moment of victory for Academy of Art as Comas Adam worked through a three-set win, topping Joyner 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. Very shortly thereafter, Hellbe finished off her own three-set result, emerging on top 3-6, 6-3, 10-8.

Moving to 2-3 overall this season, the Knights made it six victories in their last seven matches versus the Vulcans who fall to 4-2 in 2021.

ART U welcomes NCAA Division I Nevada to the Bay Area this Saturday, Mar. 20 for a 2 p.m. match back inside the Bay Club SF Tennis (South SF).