ITA NCAA Division II Women's Tennis National Rankings (Feb. 26)

Perfect through their first five matches of the 2014 season, ART U Women's Tennis was rewarded Wednesday with its highest national ranking in program history. The Urban Knights came in at #13 in the country, a 13-place improvement from their #26 fall ranking, as announced by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

"Moving up to 13th was a huge step for this program," head coach Beth Daub said. "We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but I could not be more proud of my girls. They have worked very hard and have shown great determination. If they stick to the game plan and keep bringing that hard work to practice and matches, they will continue to see results."

An 8-1 home victory over Fresno Pacific (then ranked #10) started the year on Feb. 11 then ART U picked up a pair of neutral site wins in Arizona, dominating Chaminade 8-1 and Western New Mexico 9-0. Against Dominican on Feb. 21, the Knights posted their second 9-0 sweep and, most recently, came out on top in a gritty 6-3 final at #32 Sonoma State.

With only #2 BYU-Hawaii and #4 Hawaii Pacific ahead, Academy of Art was the third highest West Region school on the national rankings, staying consistent with the regional list released on Feb. 19.

Weather-permitting, ART U's next matchup is with local PacWest rival Holy Names this weekend.