LIVERMORE, Calif. – Dominican women's tennis claimed its first ever victory over cross-bay rival No. 22 Academy of Art 4-3 Monday morning at Livermore Tennis Club.
 
The two teams had met 32 times as NCAA Division II opponents coming into the match with the Urban Knights (1-2) claiming all 32. The Penguins (3-1) remained unintimidated heading on the road. Dominican claimed the day's first match as but Sofia Acuña and Deepalakshmi Vanaraja took No. 2 doubles 6-1, but Georgiana Parr and Stefani Georgieva won No. 3 doubles 6-2. The top court was a tight battled between the Penguins' pairing of Gina Dudley and Audrey Rafols, and the Urban Knights' of Amelija Supulniece and Jessica Plazas. The teams traded the first four games until Plazas and Supulniece finally won the first break of the match to take a 4-2 lead. Dudley and Rafols responded with a break to help tie the match 5-5, but Plazas and Supulniece took the last two games to give ART U the doubles point.
 
Dominican shook off the close loss and Maria Gavrilov tied the team score as she defeated No. 32 Estelle Najean 6-2, 6-0 in No. 3 singles to tie the team score. Acuña added a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Georgieva in No. 5 singles to push the Penguins in front as a team with the winds of momentum building in their sails. No. 27 Rafols matched up against the West Regions top player and No. 15 overall Supulniece in No. 1 singles and earned a 6-2, 6-4 victory representing the highest ranked player Rafols or any Penguin has defeated in singles.
 
With Dominican just a point from the clinch, Parr outlasted Astrid Craig 7-5 in a tight first set to go with a 6-1 second set victory to narrow the gap for the Urban Knights. No. 43 Plazas topped Dudley 6-2, 6-1 to knot the team score back up again at 3-3 with all eyes turning to No. 4 doubles where the match would be decided. Paulina Alvarez appeared poised to take the opening set for ART U as she took a 4-2 lead, but Vanaraja rebounded and won the next four games to win 6-4 in the opening set. The games in the second set were also close as it opened in a 2-2 tie, but Vanaraja once again found some momentum with her teammates watching and closed out on a four game win streak to take the singles and team victory with 6-2.
 
Dominican will head back home as it plays host to Jessup on Thursday at Castellucci Family Tennis Center with first serve set for noon PST.