SAN FRANCISCO – Returning nearly its entire roster from the previous season and making one dynamic new addition, Academy of Art women's tennis tenaciously competed together throughout its 2022-2023 campaign. The Urban Knights prepared with three fall competitions, opened the spring with four wins in its first five matches, battled through schedule changes, and ultimately triumphed twice at the Pacific West Conference Championship Tournament before taking seventh place overall to conclude Head Coach Clarisse Baca's sixth year at the program's helm.

"This year was about resilience," Baca said. "This team handled very tough situations throughout the whole year with grace, humility, and positivity."

Following a semifinal finish for the doubles team of junior Yun "Nicole" Shiau and freshman Jessica Plazas at the ITA West Regionals as well as Plazas' own quarterfinals result in singles action, ART U took on various NCAA Division II West Region and NCAA Division I opponents at the Penguin Invitational and Saint Mary's Invitational all in preparation for the spring season roughly three months later.

The Knights' first match of 2023 pit them against another NCAA DI foe in Sacramento State on Feb. 6 before the team started a four-match win streak with a 6-1 victory at Holy Names on Feb. 17 that featured four singles wins in straight sets. One day later on Feb. 18 it was an identical result as Academy of Art bested Dominican 6-1 after sweeping the doubles point on a pair of 6-1 scores from Plazas and sophomore Erica Hellbe as well as junior Viktoria Leth and sophomore Paulina Alvarez.

Weather forced the 2023 schedule to be restructured thereafter, but it did not slow down the Knights as they topped UH Hilo 6-1 in their first home match of the year on Feb. 28. The contest was prefaced by a guest speaker for Lung Cancer Awareness Day and had all three doubles matches end in ART U's favor before sophomore Maria Vittoria Casucci's win in the top singles position led four straight-set victories. That momentum continued into the first match of a four-part Southern California road trip as Leth and Alvarez won in both doubles and singles play to lead a 5-2 win over Cal State LA on Mar. 3.

Facing nationally-ranked teams for the remainder of the trip, Academy of Art hung tough, but could not get past No. 20 Point Loma on Mar. 4, No. 4 Hawaii Pacific on Mar. 5, and No. 1 Barry on Mar. 7 thereafter. However, the Knights returned to their winning ways, bettering Colorado Mesa 6-1 in a neutral site matchup that saw Plazas, Hellbe, Leth, and Alvarez all record multiple victories on Mar. 18.

Two more wins came in the week that followed with a doubles point combining with singles wins in straight sets from sophomore Julia Ortega, Plazas, Leth, and Alvarez for a 5-2 result in a rematch hosting Dominican on Mar. 24. The success at home continued with another 5-2 triumph on Mar. 26 versus Stanislaus State as Academy of Art became a perfect 3-0 at Bay Club SF Tennis to begin the year.

"Playing at home is always as advantage for us," Baca said. "After a very rigid and intense preseason, we were stronger and ready to compete."

A difficult stretch would ensue beginning with Fresno Pacific barely outlasting ART U 4-3 on Mar. 31 as the Sunbirds took a doubles point tiebreaker as well as a tie-breaking third set in the final singles match. Unable to compete in what would have been a four-part Florida road trip, the Knights' next pairing ironically had them host FPU on Apr. 15 for Senior Day. Once again tied 3-3, the final court's result gave Fresno Pacific the win, but Academy of Art still embraced its opportunity to honor the careers of Julia Ortega, Yun "Nicole" Shiau, and Aitana Comas Adam, the latter of whom returned for her first action since 2021.

"On the court, Julia and Nicole were the backbone of the team, we could always count on them for a win," Baca said. "Off the court, these women are just remarkable people, always respectful and ready. It was an honor to be their coach. Aitana, had a different path, since she battled injury for most of her college career, but her efforts were seen and appreciated. I just hope that the team realizes how much resiliency they built this season and takes that into our 2023-24 season. I can't wait."

ART U next began its 14th appearance in the PacWest Conference Championship Tournament with its third win over Dominican in 2023 on Apr. 19, doing so by a 4-2 final with singles success from the quartet of Hellbe, Shiau, Alvarez, and Comas Adam. Though No. 43 Concordia defeated Academy of Art in the quarterfinals on Apr. 20 and the consolation semis saw UH Hilo even the season series on Apr. 21, the Knights concluded their 2023 campaign on a victorious note as Casucci, Ortega, Alvarez, and Comas Adam all picked up singles wins to push the team past MSU Denver 4-2 for a seventh-place finish on Apr. 22.

Though ART U will bid farewell to its three seniors, the contingent of returning Knights includes Plazas and Hellbe, who both earned All-PacWest Team honors this past April, on a talented roster determined to take that next step in 2024.

"Our goals are still the same; to become PacWest and National Champions," Baca said. "We will adjust, learn, and continue to improve to get there. New recruits are coming in and they are ready to go. They will bond very well with the rest of the players."