SURPRISE, Ariz.— The Colorado Mesa University women's tennis team was downed by nationally-ranked Academy of Art University in the opening round of the Pacific West Conference Championship Tournament on Wednesday here at the Surprise Tennis Center.  
 
The Urban Knights, ranked 48^th as a team in Wednesday's edition of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's NCAA Division II rankings, won the match 4-0 as nationally-ranked singles players Amelija Supulniece (No. 55) and Jessica Plazas (No. 62) won at No. 1 and 2 singles surrounding a No. 5 singles win by Viktoria Leth.
 
Art U, now 11-5 on the season, also won at No. 2 and 3 doubles as Paulina Alvarez and Leth squeaked out a 11-9 win in the No. 3 doubles tie-breaker over the Mavericks' Delia Maier and Kristen Thomas.
 
Supulniece and Erica Hellbe, ranked 23^rd nationally as a doubles duo, were also in a tough battle with CMU's Issy Coman and Makenna Livingston, leading just 6-5 when that match was left unfinished after the No. 3 doubles clincher.
 
Meanwhile, Maier and CMU freshman Devyn Rodriguez were both up a set in their unfinished singles matches.  Rodriguez had won the first set over Maria Casucci at No. 3 singles and was trailing 3-2 in the second.  Maier had defeated Alvarez, 6-4 in the opening set of the No. 6 singles match and was also down just 3-2 in the second.
 
CMU, now 12-15 overall, will wrap up the season on Thursday evening at 5 p.m. Arizona Time (6 p.m. Mountain) in a consolation match-up against long-time rival MSU Denver, which was also downed 4-0 by Dominican in Wednesday's opening round.  The Roadrunners are 10-12 and defeated the Mavericks twice earlier this month, including by a tight 4-3 margin in the regular season finale for both teams on Saturday.