2015 Schedule

SAN FRANCISCO – As winter starts its transformation into spring, Academy of Art University Softball will commence its 2015 schedule this February as officially announced by head coach Sonja Garnett. The Urban Knights embark upon a 53+ game campaign with matchups against five of the top teams in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) last year and a full slate of Pacific West Conference opponents.

ART U opens the year on Feb. 5 with a doubleheader at Cal State East Bay, who finished fifth in the CCAA (27-26 overall) and one spot behind NCAA Tournament qualifier Sonoma State in 2014. The first of two tournaments hosted by Cal State Stanislaus follows for the Urban Knights as they compete in the Best of the West Invitational for the first time to date.

"When taking over the program, much of the schedule was set, but we did some rearranging and added the Best of the West Invitational," said Garnett. "This put us at an optimal number of games and up against some of the best teams in the state."

Those opponents include Chico State (Feb. 7-8), a middle-of-the-pack finisher in the CCAA last year and historical powerhouse, the host Warriors (Feb. 7), and San Francisco State (Feb. 8).

"Coach Schefkowitz at Stanislaus does a great job of hosting tournaments and I am glad she had space for us at Best of the West," said Garnett. "The CCAA is competitive top to bottom, and gives us an opportunity to stay local and play out of conference."

Academy of Art then goes from the Best of the West to playing one of the best in the PacWest as the Knights travel to Azusa Pacific for a four-game series (Feb. 20-21). Despite being ineligible for the NCAA postseason in their transition from NAIA to Division II, the Cougars went 40-19 last season to finish third behind Dixie State and California Baptist.

"The PacWest is competitive," said Garnett. "We constantly see the same four teams competing for the top ranks and, in order to join that level, each game will count. There are four newer coaches in the conference in the past three years, and it will be great to see how this influences the competition."

ART U returns to non-conference play for the next two weeks, hosting Central Washington, Academy of Art's lone Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponent, on Feb. 23 for the Knights' home opener. The Wildcats split a pair with Academy of Art last season en route to going 32-20 and falling to Dixie State in the West Region sub-regional championship game.

A twinbill at Sonoma State (Feb. 25) closes the Knights' opening month before road games at Humboldt State (Mar. 2) and back to Turlock for two at Cal State Stanislaus (Mar. 4) start off March. Duking it out in a winner-take-all third game of the CCAA Tournament Championship last year, HSU prevailed over SSU before both teams saw early exits from the West Regional.

PacWest play picks back up when ART U takes a trip around the Bay Area to Holy Names (Mar. 7), Notre Dame de Namur (Mar. 13), and hosts Dominican (Mar. 14). Academy of Art was collectively 9-5 against these three local opponents last season.

Road contests at the heavy hitters follow as the Knights head to California Baptist (Mar. 18) and Dixie State (Mar. 20-21). Both the Lancers and Red Storm finished with identical 27-5 conference records and made trips to NCAA West Regionals where CBU fell to Cal State Monterey Bay in the Super Regional Semifinal and DSU overcame CSUMB before falling to #1 West Texas A&M in the National Championship.

Bookending Stanislaus' Tournament of Champions in late March are a pair of home games in which ART U will host Chaminade (Mar. 24) and UH Hilo (Mar. 31). Both the Silverswords and Vulcans finished 2015 with above .500 records, but did not qualify for the NCAA postseason.

Academy of Art literally hits its home stretch in early April, a month that will not see the Knights leave the Bay Area. It begins with road games at Dominican (Apr. 4) and a non-conference doubleheader at SF State (Apr. 6) then finishes with 10 consecutive contests at Mission Blue Field. Those include Holy Names (Apr. 11), BYU-Hawaii (Apr. 14-15), Hawaii Pacific (Apr. 19), and NDNU (Apr. 25).

"This season will be a grind," said Garnett. "We have several weekday games and will be on the road a lot. The silver lining is that this will create an opportunity to continue to build our culture and bond as a team. Ending season at home will be welcomed at the end of our journey. It will be great for our seniors to end the year surrounded by their supporters."