This is the ninth in a 10-part series highlighting the Top 10 moments of the Urban Knights' 2014-15 season. Stay tuned for the Year of the Knight!
 
SAN FRANCISCO — The growth continued in 2015 for the Academy of Art University women's tennis team, and part of the season's culmination included a thrilling historic victory over a perennial power.
 
The Urban Knights had been nationally ranked. They had been to the Pacific West Conference tournament. They had been to the NCAA Tournament. But never had they beaten Hawaii Pacific University, a regular in the postseason scene.
 
But on April 17, in the semifinals of the PacWest Tournament, down to their last breath of life, junior Lucia Zavarcikova fought all the way back from being down 5-0 in the final set to win seven straight games and clinch the program's first-ever victory over the Sharks.
 
That triumph helped ART U earn its best-ever finish at the PacWest tournament (runner-up) and catapulted it to hosting its first-ever NCAA West Region Tournament, welcoming HPU to San Francisco for a rematch.
 
Though the final results were not what the Urban Knights had hoped, the leap forward was apparent. And for their successes, the postseason awards poured in. Five players earned All-PacWest honors, with senior Nina Gajdosikova earning first team honors in singles and doubles. The team earned three awards at the second annual ARTYs, taking home recognitions for Highest Team GPA, Best Moment (defeating HPU at the PacWest Championship) and Team of the Year. The academic success was also recognized individually when seven players earned PacWest Academic All-Conference accolades.
 
To read more about the Urban Knights' historic win over Hawaii Pacific on April 17, click here! To read more about their successful 2015 campaign, click here!