MATCH #17
#14 ART U (13-2) vs. Fresno Pacific University (9-11)
April 10, 2014 at 2:00 PM
Fresno, CA -- Harold & Betty Haak Tennis Center

MATCH #18
#14 ART U (13-2) vs. Cal State Stanislaus (5-11)
April 12, 2014 at 12:00 PM
Turlock, CA -- CSUS Tennis Courts

OPENING SERVE
The Academy of Art University tennis team played an intense pair of matches over the past few days, playing possibly their best match of the season in a loss to #3 BYU-Hawaii that could have gone either way before securing a gritty 5-4 win against Sonoma State that came down to a pair of singles matches that each went to the tiebreaking third set, eventually winning on a strong performance from freshman Annika Schneider. 

FPU REBOUNDS FROM EARLY STRUGGLES
After impressing in their PacWest debut last season, Fresno Pacific took a step back this season, and after the Las Vegas Spring Tournament in the middle of March were 4-9 overall, albeit with a tough draw that saw them play two top-five teams and another top-20 team in Midwestern State. Since then, they won three in a row before alternating wins and losses over the last four games. The Sunbirds won against UC San Diego and Cal State Stanislaus but fell to Azusa Pacific and BYU-Hawaii. This will be the second matchup for the Urban Knights and FPU, after the Knights won 8-1 back on February 11. 

SPEAKING IN TONGUES
At the most recent women's tennis match against Sonoma State, a fan brought a sign that showed off the Knights' diversity, spelling out "WE LOVE TENNIS" in each of the seven languages spoken by members of the roster. Lucia Zavarcikova and Nina Gajdosikova both speak Slovak natively. Kinga Kurczbuch speaks Polish, while Annika Schneider speaks German. The only South American player, Daniela Amelunge Antelo, speaks Spanish, the native language of Bolivia. And the only North American member of the squad, Michelle Dandik Zaale, hails from Montreal, speaking both English and French. 

STANISLAUS AMIDST FIVE-GAME SLIDE
Cal State Stanislaus pulled within a game of .500 after their win against Holy Names on March 29, but since then have dropped five straight matches, including their most recent match, a 7-0 loss to Cal State Northridge. The Warriors have struggled in double play, going 15-36 (.294) and posting only one team with a season record of even or better (McKenzy Harden & Analyssa Tallas). Harden has been the primary player in first singles, where she is 3-6, and 7-11 overall. Tallas (fourth singles) and J'Ana Diamond (primarily third singles) each have eight wins to lead the way for the Warriors. This is the first meeting between the two teams this year after ART U defeated CSUS twice last year, both times by scores of 8-1. 

NEXT FOR THE KNIGHTS
After they wrap up the regular season, the Academy of Art squad will head to Phoenix for the PacWest Conference Championships from April 16-19. If and when they find out if they have been selected for the NCAA Division II Championships, they will have some time off before the tournament begins on May 14 in Alamonte Springs, FL.