SURPRISE, Ariz. — The No. 11 ranked and third-seeded Academy of Art University women's tennis team made it two in a row Friday at the Pacific West Conference Championship tournament, upsetting seventh-ranked and No. 2 seed Hawaii Pacific 5-3 in the semifinals to earn a spot in Saturday's championship match at the City of Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex.
 
Friday's match was as close as the teams' first meeting in March as it came down to a three-set decision at No. 2 singles – the fifth singles result of the day before it was finally clinched. Junior Lucia Zavarcikova trailed HPU's Nicole Hoynaski 5-0 in the third set after getting swept 6-0 in set two. She would go on to win seven straight games to win the set 7-5 and the match 6-3, 0-6, 7-5 to put the Urban Knights (13-4) into Saturday's championship match.
 
After taking a 2-1 lead through doubles, the Urban Knights inched closer to victory with a quick 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles by junior Annika Schneider over the Sharks' (19-6) Sofia Tavitian to lead 3-1. HPU grabbed its own quick singles win at No. 5 with a 6-0, 6-1 win by Lea Kruse-Utermann to make it 3-2. The teams traded singles results again as junior Michelle Dandik Zaale defeated Vivian Hansen 6-2, 6-3 at No. 3 and HPU's Lorena Gheorghe beat senior Jenny Johansson 7-5, 6-1 at No. 4 before Zavarcikova's deciding win.
 
The victory was the Urban Knights' first-ever over the Sharks and avenged a 5-4 loss earlier this season in Hawaii. It also earned ART U an opportunity to face top-seeded, eight-time defending PacWest champion and No. 3-ranked BYU-Hawaii (29-1) for the conference title. The Seasiders swept through No. 5 seed and 22nd-ranked Cal State LA 5-0 in the other semifinal Friday. Academy of Art is now guaranteed its best-ever finish at the PacWest Conference Championship Tournament after finishing third last season.
 
"Extremely proud of this group of girls," said Academy of Art head coach Nicole Briceño-Garzón. "They have been working so hard for moments like these and they fought and battled all the way to the end. It was a complete team effort."
 
Wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles gave ART U the early 2-1 lead for the second straight day. Johansson and Zavarcikova beat Gheorghe and Kruse-Utermann 8-3 at the second position. Dandik and freshman Dorota Markowska beat Hansen and Tavitian 8-2 at No. 3.
 
"Everyone went out there to play to win and we did an excellent job of sticking to our strengths," said Briceño-Garzón. "We'll keep building from today's match and use the confidence we built for tomorrow."
 
Saturday's PacWest Conference championship match begins at 2 p.m. between the Urban Knights and the Seasiders.