SAN FRANCISCO – Hosting Fresno Pacific for its second match in as many days, No. 19 Academy of Art women's tennis found itself in a dogfight in doubles then had two singles matches decided in the third set as the Sunbirds prevailed 6-1 on Saturday at Bay Club SF Tennis.
The doubles point was very much up for grabs as senior
Mariacristina Andrisani and sophomore
Sofia Ragona combined for a 6-3 win over the team ranked one spot ahead of them in the West Region in Lea Falentin and Ioanna Lathouri. A 6-1 result put Mariia Borodii and Alice Di Matteo over freshmen
Julia Ortega and
Ella Lynn-Browne at number two, leaving the point to be decided by the third position. After battling all the way to a 6-6 score, it was Sanne Brull and Alice Marques who managed to edge freshmen
Aitana Comas Adam and
Maria Vittoria Casucci 7-6.
Fresno Pacific recorded early wins with Lathouri topping Comas Adam 6-3, 6-0 and Falentin besting Ragona 7-6, 6-3 in the second position. However, a three-set battled waged in the third spot between Di Matteo and Casucci while Lynn-Browne took down Marques 6-2, 7-5 at five. In one of two singles matches that saw each competitor win a set, Di Matteo ended up prevailing 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 while Borodii emerged a 6-2, 7-5, 10-6 victor over Andrisani in the first position. Brull added a 6-1, 7-5 result over Ortega at six to give FPU its third win through three matches and put Academy of Art at 1-1 on the year.
"It was the first time we played Fresno Pacific in a long time and unfortunately we came up short," said head coach
Clarisse Baca. "The team played their hearts out that day and I was very impressed with the doubles of Mariacristina and Sofia beating a ranked team. We started a little slow and then it was too late for our players to come back. Ella played a really consistent game and that was a key to her success. The learning lesson is to make sure we start strong and we commit to the tactic we are working on."
The Urban Knights' first away match of the season will take them across the San Francisco Bay to San Rafael where they are set to face Dominican tomorrow at noon.
