CITY, Calif. – Academy of Art women's tennis made quick work of its opponent on Tuesday afternoon, rolling through doubles play early before solid singles performances down the stretch cemented a 6-1 win over UH Hilo on Lung Cancer Awareness Day.

Following the introductions which included a guest speaker raising awareness to help the fight against lung cancer, the Urban Knights (3-1) got right to work as they went a perfect 3-0 against the Vulcans (4-3) in doubles action to take the early 1-0 lead. The first court to finish was No. 2 where sophomores Julia Ortega and Maria Vittoria Casucci ousted their counterparts in Jordan Lehua and McKenna Mountain, 6-2. Each of the next two matches finished at near identical times, but officially earning the point was the team of junior Viktoria Leth and sophomore Paulina Alvarez on court three as they dropped Casydee De Mattos and Julia Barden, 7-5. Last but not least was court No. 1 where the duo of freshman Jessica Plazas and sophomore Erica Hellbe needed a tiebreaker but were able to outlast Akari Ichikawa Hikari Osaki, 7-6(7-3). 

Moving into singles action, Plazas was nearly perfect in her match against Barden on court two as she captured the win in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0. Picking up ART U's third point of the match was Casucci on court one, as she also turned in a straight-set win against her opponent Ichikawa, 6-1, 6-2. The match clinching point belonged to Leth, taking just a bit more time than Plazas despite identical scores as Leth also earned a 6-2, 6-0 win over De Mattos. Ortega continued the stretch on court three, where she disposed of her opponent Mountain with a score of 6-1, 6-2.

Though the Vulcans did capture a win on court four, ART U finished strong as Alvarez shined in the clutch with all eyes upon her as the last to finish. It was a hard-fought battle all the way through against her opponent Jordan, who ended up taking a tiebreaking first set, 7-6(7-4). However, Alvarez was able rally back by taking the second to force a tiebreaker, where despite initially leading 4-2 then found herself trailing 9-8. Digging deep, she was able to take the final three points and officially clinch the win in exciting fashion, 6-7(7-4), 6-4, 11-9. 

After having the last three matches in the Bay Area, the Urban Knights will now embark on a road trip to Southern California where they will begin a four-game stretch that begins with Cal State Los Angeles on Friday, Mar. 3 at 1:30 p.m.