2020 Schedule

SAN FRANCISCO – The Academy of Art women's tennis team has released its Spring 2020 schedule, and the No. 13 Urban Knights will face off against eight of the top 50 ranked teams in all of NCAA Division II.
 
"We always schedule very hard (opponents), we don't schedule soft, meaning that we play against the best teams in the nation starting from the beginning," said ART U head coach Clarisse Baca. "We're one of the most competitive conferences in the nation, so by default most of the conference teams are tough."
 
It will be a stretch of five straight matches against fellow Pacific West Conference members to open the season for ART U, who begin the season ranked No. 13 in the country. The first two contests of the year come at home against cross-bay rival Holy Names, followed by a battle with Fresno Pacific. Then it will be time for the Urban Knights to hit the road to face off against Dominican, Sonoma State, and Stanislaus State. 
 
"We also face some of the best teams in the other conferences in the nation," Baca said. "We have two big trips coming to Los Angeles and going to Florida, facing some of the top 15 teams in the nation." 
 
This season's schedule will see No. 13 ART U make a trip to Florida for four matches. Starting with a visit to the Buccaneer Tennis Center in Miami Shores, Fla. on Mar. 21 to take on the No. 1 ranked Barry Buccaneers, the Urban Knights will then see No. 6 Nova Southeastern the following day on Mar. 22, Rollins College on Mar. 24, and conclude the trip against No. 5 Saint Leo on Mar. 25. ART U will be looking to make up for losses last year against Barry (L, 4-1) and Saint Leo (L, 4-3), but also the Knights' second consecutive win against Rollins after last season's 4-1 result. 
 
Other big dates on the schedule include a showdown with No. 41 Sonoma State on Feb. 15, No. 32 UC San Diego on Feb. 27, No. 8 Central Oklahoma on Mar. 15, and No. 20 Azusa Pacific on Mar. 16. Against these same teams last year (with the exception of Central Oklahoma), the Urban Knights went 5-0, including 3-0 versus the Seawolves.
 
Four straight matches at home will close out the season for ART U, starting with No. 7 Hawai'i Pacific on Apr. 4. In what has been a budding rivalry between the Urban Knights and the Sharks, ART U will look to avenge their recent losses in the PacWest Conference Championship finals and in the ITA West Regionals. That match is followed by Cal State Los Angeles on Apr. 5 and PacWest foe Dominican on Apr. 10. Senior Day lands on a Friday afternoon (Apr. 17), as ART U closes out the season against Stanislaus State. 
 
Last year, the Urban Knights were 6-4 versus ranked opponents in the regular season, but were just 1-2 versus ranked opponents in the postseason between the PacWest Championships and ITA West Regionals.