SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's tennis fell 6-1 to No. 25 Academy of Art in its season and home opener Friday at Castellucci Family Tennis Center.

Freshman Audrey Rafols wasted no time making an impact for the Penguins (0-1) as she defeated No. 18 Sofia Ragona 6-0, 6-4 in her first collegiate singles match. Rafols's victory was also the first singles victory over a ranked opponent since Rickimae Torres knocked off No. 25 Anastasia Kuprina 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 at the 2018 PacWest Championships.

The Urban Knights (1-0) took the early lead in the match as Viktoria Leth and Julia Ortega captured No. 2 doubles 6-2. The doubles edge would be short lived as freshman Julia Rydel and sophomore Zoe Coggins leveled doubles with a 6-2 victory for the Penguins in No. 3 doubles. No. 1 singles was tightly contested, but No. 6 Ragon and Yun Shiau pulled away late to take the 6-3 victory and give ART U the 1-0 lead.

Shiau opened the singles portion with a 6-0, 6-1 victory on the third court to increase the Urban Knight lead, while Leth captured No. 5 singles 6-2, 6-1 to make it 3-0. Julia Ortega and graduate student Gigi Alajeely were neck and neck in the first set at one point playing a 5-minute point, but Ortega held on for the 6-4 victory in the first set before pulling away in the second set 6-1 to clinch the team victory for ART U.

Dominican will return to the court Saturday to take on William Jessup at 1 p.m. PST in Roseville, California.