2023 All-PacWest Awards (Full Release)

IRVINE, Calif. – Academy of Art women's tennis had a pair of Urban Knights collect postseason honors from the Pacific West Conference, as freshman Jessica Plazas was named All-PacWest Second Team (Singles) while the tandem of Plazas and sophomore Erica Hellbe were selected to the All-PacWest Third Team (Doubles). It is the first such honors in each of their careers. 

"Congratulations to Jessica and Erica for receiving these awards," said ART U Head Coach Clarisse Baca. "The PacWest Conference is one of the toughest conferences in the country, and to be included among the best players of it, it's definitely a sign of their hard work."

Plazas, at one point ranked the No. 36 singles player in the nation and No. 7 in the region, collects a pair of awards in just her first season with Academy of Art, earning her singles honor after a season where she went 7-4 including a 5-3 mark from the No. 1 position. While she was just 0-1 against nationally-ranked opponents, she did amass a 2-1 record against regionally-ranked competition, and she won six of her seven matches in straight sets. Among those victories included a 6-2, 6-4 victory on the first court over Arianna Audelo (No. 11 in the region) during ART U's match against No. 20 Point Loma. Perhaps her most impressive win came late in the season against the region's No. 10 ranked player Makenna Livingston of Colorado Mesa, which was her lone three-set win of the year with a 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8) decision. 

Meanwhile, the duo of Plazas and Hellbe earn their first recognition as a team, named to the All-PacWest Third Team (Doubles) after they went 7-3 exclusively from the No. 1 position. Though they were not ranked in the region nor faced a ranked opponent, the pair was still dominant as they won each of their first three matches of the season while also winning three of their last four. Only one of their seven wins needed a tiebreaker to determine the victor, when they outlasted the UH Hilo pair of Akari Ichikawa Hikari Osaki 7-6(7-3) during ART U's 6-1 victory over the Vulcans. 

This is the ninth consecutive season that Academy of Art has had at least one All-PacWest Singles and Doubles selection (excluding shortened 2019-20 season with no awards given). However, the program record remains the 2018-19 season in which five Urban Knights collected a total of five All-PacWest Singles honors and four All-PacWest Doubles awards.