MEN’S TENNIS WINS AGAIN, SETS UP FIRST-PLACE SHOWDOWN WITH MONTANA ON SUNDAY

4/7/2012

Senior Javier Millan helped Sacramento State to its 24th straight win against a Big Sky opponent today

BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Sacramento State’s Aliaksandr Malko, Javier Millan, Marek Marksoo and Roy Brandys each produced straight-set singles wins to lead the Hornets to a 6-1 victory over Montana State in a Big Sky Conference men’s tennis match Saturday afternoon at the Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center.

With the victory, the Hornets (7-10, 5-0) won their fourth straight match, and remained unbeaten in the conference despite using five freshmen in nearly every contest this season, including today. The win sets up a first-place showdown tomorrow afternoon at Montana. The Grizzlies improved to 12-4 overall and 5-0 in the Big Sky with a victory today against Northern Colorado. Sacramento State and Montana are the lone two teams in the conference with undefeated league marks, and tomorrow’s winner will likely assume the No. 1 seed in the Big Sky Tournament later this month.

The Hornets have also won 24 consecutive matches against Big Sky opponents dating back to 2010.

Malko (6-3, 6-4 at No. 1), Millan (6-3, 6-4 at No. 2), Marksoo (6-1, 6-2 at No. 3), Sean Kolar (3-6, 6-4, 10-1 at No. 5) and Brandys (7-5, 6-3 at No. 6) were each victorious in singles play. Marksoo has now won six straight singles matches while Malko won his third straight. Marksoo is a team-best 12-3 this year in singles action, and after beginning the season as the team’s No. 5 player, is now playing at No. 3 singles.

Sacramento State swept all three doubles matches to earn the point as the tandems of Millan/Marksoo (8-5 at No. 1), Kolar/Tom Miller (8-1 at No. 2) and Malko/Brandys (8-6 at No. 3) were each victorious.

After tomorrow afternoon’s match with Montana, only three regular season matches remain in the regular season before the Big Sky Tournament will be played at the Gold River Racquet Club on April 21-22.

Apr 07, 2012 at Bozeman, Mont.
(Bobcat-Anderson Tennis Center)

Sacramento State 6, Montana State 1

Singles competition
1. MALKO, Aliaksandr (SAC) def. BRANDES, Niklas (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
2. MILLAN, Javier (SAC) def. SCHLEUTER, Markus (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
3. MARKSOO, Marek (SAC) def. FUENTES, Alberto (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
4. CAMPOS, Diego (MSU) def. HULTKRANTZ, Jonathan (SAC) 6-4, 6-2
5. KOLAR, Sean (SAC) def. JEWETT, Lander (MSU) 3-6, 6-4, 10-1
6. BRANDYS, Roy (SAC) def. SIVASUBRAMANIAM, P. (MSU) 7-5, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. MILLAN, Javier/MARKSOO, Marek (SAC) def. FUENTES, Alberto/JEWETT, Lander (MSU) 8-5
2. KOLAR, Sean/MILLER, Tom (SAC) def. BRANDES, Niklas/SCHLEUTER, Markus (MSU) 8-1
3. MALKO, Aliaksandr/BRANDYS, Roy (SAC) def. CAMPOS, Diego/MARTIN-MORILLAS, J. (MSU) 8-6

Match Notes:
Sacramento State 7-10, 5-0 Big Sky
Montana State 6-10, 2-3 Big Sky
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,2,4,1,5,6)