DALY CITY, Calif. – Despite carrying the momentum of four straight wins into Thursday's matchup hosting No. 7 Hawaii Pacific at the Bay Club, Academy of Art women's tennis could not overcome the Sharks down the stretch in a 6-1 final.

HPU gained an early advantage with a doubles win on the second court, but while freshman Julia Ortega and sophomore Viktoria Leth were making a valiant comeback from an early deficit on court three, sophomores Sofia Ragona and Yun "Nicole" Shiau were leading their opponents, Shaline Pipa and Marleen Tilgner, in the top position 4-3 then 5-4. In the end, Valentina Mokrova and Marta Ruszcynska prevailed 6-4 in the third spot to secure the doubles point.

A win on the third court started singles play with Hawaii Pacific up 2-0 then a battle of nationally-ranked competitors saw Pipa, No. 16 in Thursday's newest release of rankings, top Ragona, up to No. 9, by a final of 6-4, 6-0. Elodie Busson bested No. 45 Shiau 6-2, 6-2 in the second position and Ruszczynska got the better of Leth 6-4, 6-2 at five as the visitors secured the win. Nevertheless, freshman Paulina Alvarez was able to take down Rikona Murakami 7-5, 6-1 on court six for her fifth consecutive singles triumph while a hard-fought fourth court victory went to Mihoki Miyahara 6-3, 6-2 over Ortega. 

Though ART U's win streak stops at four matches, the Knights are still above .500 at 5-3 on the season while HPU elevates to 7-3.

Following a 19-day stretch with no matches, Academy of Art will next return to action with contests at three Southern California opponents in Concordia (Mar. 29), No. 14 Azusa Pacific (Mar. 30), and No. 11 Biola (Mar. 31) in three days.