LA MIRADA, Calif. – Though No. 14 Biola carried a 2-0 lead early in singles play, Academy of Art women's tennis gave the Eagles all they could handle at Biola Tennis Center on Thursday. Three singles matches required three sets as the Urban Knights battled back toward the upset, but BU ultimately walked off the court with a 5-2 victory.

Back-and-forth doubles action reached a 1-1 tie after the sophomore tandem of Sofia Ragona and Yun "Nicole" Shiau put away Colbeyshae Emery and Mary Brascia 6-3 on court one. Though freshman Maria Vittoria Casucci and sophomore Viktoria Leth fought valiantly taking four games, it was Brooke Fager and Alexandria Mann who secured the doubles point for the Eagles by way of a 6-4 final at two.

Biola quickly went up 2-0 to start singles play, but freshman Paulina Alvarez got the Urban Knights on the board with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ines Diaz in the sixth spot. Casucci rallied against an early deficit versus Brascia at two, but a hard-fought matchup was taken by the latter 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to make it 3-1 BU. Leth also went the distance versus Lilly McNeill in the fourth position yet a late push by the home side turned things to a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 final.

A tiebreaker was needed to settle the opening set between freshman Julia Ortega and Fager causing the pairing to last longer than the other three-set affairs. In the end, however, Fager would capture the point for her squad 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Though the overall match had been decided, Shiau was still able to secure a 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 triumph over Mann at three to contribute to the 5-2 end score.

Still above .500, ART U moves to 6-5 overall this season while Biola continues to lead in the Pacific West Conference standings with an 18-2 record.

Closing out the regular season with three home matches, Academy of Art begins by hosting Cal State Los Angeles from Bay Club SF Tennis in Daly City this Saturday, Apr. 2 at noon.