SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's tennis pushed No. 19 Academy of Art to the brink in doubles, but ultimately fell 7-0 Sunday afternoon at Castellucci Family Tennis Center.

"We played really well in doubles, but we struggled a lot more in singles," head coach Cristina Visico said. "We were able to get some great experience for our freshman due to some injuries."

The match was played in extremely windy conditions as the teams had to adjust to the bursts of wind. Julia Ortega and Ella Lynn-Browne got the Urban Knights (2-1) off to a strong start in doubles play with a 6-1 victory on the third court. Dominican held leads for most of the other two doubles matches in what proved to be very tightly contested matches. 

Ofelia Lopez Camarena and Haley Garcia took on the No. 4 ranked doubles pairing in the west region in Maria Andrisani and Sofia Ragona. Lopez Camarena and Garcia broke early in the set and then took a 4-3 lead as they looked to topple the duo, but Andrisani and Ragona were able to sweep the final three games to take the doubles point for ART U. 

The Penguins (1-2) Michelle Li and Kamar Alajeely went back-and-forth with Maria Casucci and Aitana Comas Adam, breaking set to force a tiebreaker. Casucci and Comas Adam went ahead by three early, but Li and Alajeely won the next four points to take the lead. Cassuci and Adam rebounded with the final three points to take the 7-6 (5) victory.

Lynn-Browne notched a 6-2, 6-1 victory for the Urban Knights to open up singles play and Casucci added a 6-1, 6-1 victory in No. 3 singles to put them within a singles match of the team victory. Comas Adam provided the clincher in No. 4 singles with a 6-1, 6-1 victory and ART U continued the momentum to the 7-0 sweep.

Dominican will have nearly two full weeks to rest and heal up as it will host Mills College Friday, Feb. 21, at 3 p.m. PST at Castellucci Family Tennis Center.