ROHNERT PARK, Calif. -- After a slew of postponements due to inclement weather, No. 6 Academy of Art women's tennis spring season got underway with a 5-2 win over Sonoma State, Sunday afternoon at the Sonoma State Tennis Courts. The Urban Knights won doubles and earned victories in the top three singles positions.  

"Great start of the season to a tough Sonoma State," said head coach Clarisse Baca. "Doubles was an important point for us and a motivator to start singles strong."

The No. 5 doubles pair of seniors Alma Thell-Lenntorp and Klara Thell-Lenntorp took down SSU's top pair, No. 13 Jensyn Warren and Carolyn Brooner 7-5. Seniors Monika Stanikova and Paula Alcantara followed up with a dominant 6-1 victory over Jenna DeTurk and Clarisa Colling to win doubles.

On the singles side of things, the top two players in the West region faced off, No. 7 Stanikova and No. 15 Warren. The match went three sets and after a first round 4-6 loss, Stanikova came back to win back to back sets 6-4 and 10-4 to take the match.

"Monika had a fantastic fight versus Jensyn as she was down a set and 1-4, but came back strong to finish," said Baca.

Playing out of the second position Klara defeated Colling 6-2, 6-1 to go undefeated on the day. Alma did the same by beating Brooner 6-3, 6-3 and sweep the top three singles positions. Alcantara wrapped the win up with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Hannah Highsmith.

"Alma played for the first time in position three and she played to her strength and came up with a victory," said Baca. "Overall it was a good first step forward, however we need to keep working hard during practice to make sure we close out the points at the net."

After their first win of 2019, Academy of Art will take on Concordia Saturday, Feb. 23 at 10 a.m. in Irvine, Calif. at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center.