PACWEST CHAMPIONSHIPS
ART U (11-9) vs. Chaminade (5-8)
April 19, 2012 at 12:30 PM
San Rafael, CA -- Marin Tennis Club

OPENING SERVE
The Urban Knights will head into the PacWest Championships with an 11-9 record after facing some of the stiffest competition in their history throughout the 2012 campaign. The 11 wins marked their second highest total in program history, ranking only behind the 12 wins from a year ago.

KNIGHTS GO TO SEED
Academy of Art heads into the Championships with the #4 seed for the third straight year. BYU-Hawaii, the #1 team in Division II, is sitting pretty with the top seed after a 22-0 season, and will face the #8 seed Lady Penguins. No. 2 seed Hawaii Pacific will play No. 7 Dixie State, who the Knights defeated 9-0 earlier this year. Grand Canyon holds down the third seed, and will face No. 6 seed Hawaii Hilo. The semifinal matches will be played on April 20, and the finals will be played on April 21 at the Marin Tennis Club.

ART U'S SENIOR LEADERSHIP
The Knights are led by a stellar class of four seniors who have made contributions throughout their time at ART U and especially this year. Kunkanda "Cartoon" Phukchampa has drawn the tall task of facing every other team's #1, but the Knights ace has handled the pressure with ease, going 18-14 in her career at first singles. Paola Correa Fe has played all four years with the Urban Knights, compiling a 31-31 record overall. Cecilia Hedin has 13 wins under her belt in her four years, and Maria "Belen" Tenorio has gone 31-28 over her tenure at Academy of Art, as those three become the first four-year tennis players for the program.

THIRD YEAR'S A CHARM
Amal Ben El Hadj and Diane Phan, the two juniors for the Academy of Art women's tennis team, both find themselves within reach of program milestones. Both figure to be competing for the record of most singles wins, as Phan (26) and Ben El Hadj (23) go into the Championships chasing down Botshoma's record of 39. They are both also in the hunt for Botshoma's doubles wins record of 37, with Phan totaling 26 and Ben El Hadj with 22 on their stat sheet heading into the final matches of 2012.

SILVERSWORDS ON THE MAINLAND
Chaminade started 2012 on a hot streak, winning their first four matches at the Grand Canyon Tournament to start the year. That's when they met up with the Urban Knights, whose 5-4 defeat of the Swords put them in a tailspin as they dropped eight in a row before defeating Hawaii Hilo 5-4 on March 30. Chaminade is led in first singles by Yanita Arnaudova (8-5), and in first doubles by Arnaudova and Yuka Kondo (8-5). Kondo has performed well in second doubles as well, compiling a 9-4 record.

SUPER SOPHOMORES
Daniela Amelunge has emerged as a force for the Urban Knights in her sophomore year, her first for ART U. The Santa Cruz, Bolivia native went 7-5 in her rookie campaign, and also held even at 6-6 in doubles play, an impressive feat for anyone in their first year in collegiate tennis. Laguna Hills product Courtney DeWalt also excelled in her sophomore year, going 2-1 in singles play and 3-3 in doubles play on the year.

NO ROOKIE MISTAKES
Freshman Jenny Johansson has made her mark in her first year on the Urban Knights squad, compiling 14 singles wins her in her rookie campaign, only one behind the program record of 15 that is dually held by junior Amal Ben El Hadj (2011) and student assistant Laone Botshoma (2010). Sarah Lemp, the other freshman on the Urban Knights roster, also had a solid year, going 3-3 and winning her last two singles matches. She also went 3-2 in doubles play with Cecilia Hedin.