Game #15:
AAU (5-8) @ BYU Hawaii (14-0)
Tuesday, March 23rd at 2:00 PM (HST)
San Rafael, CA – Forest Meadows Tennis Courts
Game #16:
AAU (5-8) @ University of Hawaii-Hilo (0-5)
Wednesday, March 24th at 3:00 PM (HST)
Waipahu, HI - Central Oahu Regional Park
Game #17:
AAU (5-8) @ Chaminade University (6-6)
Thursday, March 25th at 3:00 PM (HST)
Waipahu, HI - Central Oahu Regional Park
Game #18:
AAU (5-8) @ Hawaii Pacific University (12-2)
Friday, March 26th at 9:00 AM (HST)
Waipahu, HI - Central Oahu Regional Park
A Look Back: The Urban Knights had a strong finish to their homestand. The Ladies won three of their four most recent games, including a two game sweep against Dominican on March 14th. In the Knights' most recent game, they fell to PacWest members Grand Canyon. AAU now has an overall record of 5-8, and are ranked 7th in the PacWest standings.
Outlook: The Academy of Art University is heading to Hawaii for a four day-four game road trip. They first take on PacWest leaders, BYU Hawaii before competing in the Aqua tournament against the other Hawaiian schools in the PacWest. All four of the Hawaiian teams Urban Knights will play, are nationally ranked. The Aqua Tournament will start on March 24th and conclude on March 26th.
Leading the Urban Knights: The Knights are led by junior Laone "Lala" Botshoma, who has a current overall record of 9-4. Freshman Diane Phan and sophomore Maria "Belen" Tenorio are close behind, as both have an 8-5 record. As a team, Botshoma and Phan combine for a 7-6 doubles record.
Scouting BYU Hawaii: The Seasiders are ranked 3rd in the NCAA National Poll, as they sit with a 14-0 record. BYU Hawaii has already defeated every school in the PacWest conference, and most recently defeated Lewis and Clark, and Cal State L.A., in shut outs. They are led by their lone senior Jenny Chin who finished the 2009 season with a 22-1 record. Junior Elwen Li is also looked upon to lead her team as she too had a strong finish last season going 23-0. In their first match up this season, BYU Hawaii defeated AAU with a score of 9-0.
Scouting Hawaii- Hilo: The Vulcans sit at the bottom of the PacWest rankings (in eighth place) and have a 0-5 record. Despite going winless thus far on the season, they are ranked 41st in the NCAA National Poll. This will be the first meeting between the two teams this season. However, when Hilo and AAU faced each other in one game last year, Hilo came out victorious with a 6-0 win over the Urban Knights. The Vulcans are led by seniors Kari Rodrigues, Justine Abella, and Christie Pagatpatan. The Vulcans finished the 2009 season with an 11-15 record.
Scouting Chaminade University: Chaminade sits in 3rd place in the PacWest standings with an overall record of 6-6, and are 2-2 in conference. The Silverswords are also ranked 43rd in the NCAA National poll. Most recently they came off a win against Hawaii-Hilo with a score of 7-2. They are led by their two seniors Stacey Chaussoy, and Tiffany DeVincent. Chaussoy finished the '09 season with a 6-9 overall record, and DeVincent finished with a 7-8 record. Last year the Silverswords finished 7-9, and defeated the Urban Knights both times they faced each other with scores of 5-3 both times. This will be the first meeting of the two teams this season.
Scouting Hawaii Pacific: Hawaii Pacific is having another strong season this year. They are currently in 2nd place in the PacWest, and are ranked 12th in the NCAA National poll. The Sea Warriors have a current record of 12-2. They are led by their two seniors Tinka Mihova who finished with a 9-4 record in 2009, and Ingird Cseh who concluded the '09 season going 14-5 in singles. This will be the first time in two seasons that the Urban Knights and the Sea Warriors will meet.
Looking Ahead: After the conclusion of the Aqua Tournament, the Academy of Art University will return home to host Notre Dame de Namur University on April 9th at 2:00 PM. That game will be the last home game for the Urban Knights this season. Following their game against NDNU, the Knights hit the road for some late season tournaments including the PacWest Championships.
