Box Score
San Francisco, CA – Between rainstorms, the sun shined brightly on the Urban Knights on Saturday as they took on Dominican University. The weather was near freezing but ART U did not let that interfere with their focus and play. The women played flawless in singles competition, and only dropped one match in doubles play. After their tireless efforts, the Knights came away with a big victory over the visiting Penguins, winning with a score of 8-1.
“It was really cold today. We played them on the roof of the San Francisco Tennis Club in 35 degree temperatures,” Coach Allen said. “The girls persevered though and really did a great job of executing the game-plans put forth earlier in the week. The team was extremely disciplined in their approach to this match and I was very happy with how it went.”
The Urban Knights came out strong in singles play, making sure they took control of the match. Kunkanda "Cartoon" Phukchampa competed in the No. 1 spot and came away with a big victory over her challenger winning in two sets 7-5, 6-2. “The match of the day went to Cartoon who faced a very tough opponent at #1,” Coach Allen said. “After winning the first set, she was able to control the court by attacking; which was her game-plan from the start.”
Diane Phan stepped up in the No.2 spot and easily defeated her opponent 6-0, 6-1, followed by Laone "Lala" Botshoma who won her match in two sets with scores of 6-1, 6-4. Maria Tenorio was in the No. 4 spot and came away victorious with scores of 6-0, 6-2. Paola Correa Fe made sure to keep the winning streak alive for her team as she battled to three sets in her match, before coming away with the win, 5-7, 6-2, 10-6. Rounding out singles play was Amal Ben El Hadj who ensured the Knights' their complete singles sweep when she defeated her opponent 6-0, 6-0.
After the sweep in singles, the Urban Knights looked to keep the momentum their way as they headed into doubles play. Coach Dave Allen switched up the doubles combinations, and his actions proved successful.
Phukchampa and Botshoma teamed up in doubles play on the day and came away with a win, taking the set with a score of 8-1. The new tandem of Diane Phan and Amal Ben El Hadj also proved powerful when they were victorious in their match winning 8-2. The final doubles game was a very intense one. Cecilia Hedin and Correa Fe battled long and hard before they ultimately fell to their competitors. They lost with a score of 9-8, (7-5).
“The past two weeks we've been working on executing our game-plan and that was the key to our success today,” Coach Allen said. “Despite the #3 doubles loss, I was very happy with how the girls played because they had a match point earlier in the match. They had a great aggressive move and barely missed. It's a game of inches and Dominican was just able to capitalize on that one miscue.”
After the win, the Academy of Art University's record improves to 4-2 overall, while Dominican University's record falls to 3-5 overall. The Urban Knights play next on March 4th when they head to St. George, UT to play three matches in three days. The women first play Dixie State, starting at 12:00pm.
