OGDEN, Utah -- The 34th ranked Sacramento State women''s tennis team shutout Northern Arizona, 4-0, to capture the 2004 Big Sky Conference Championship, Saturday morning at Weber State. The Hornets capped off an outstanding tournament performance with three singles wins and the doubles team point to win their third-straight Big Sky title. The Hornets extended their school-record winning streak to 18 with the win over the Lumberjacks.
Sophomore Margarita Karnaukhova defeated Northern Arizona''s Christina Klokinis, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 1 singles to clinch the match. The Krasnodar, Russia native improves her record to 20-3 on the year. Also winning singles matches for Sacramento State were senior Marta Gronowicz at No. 4 and freshman Cecilia Helland at No. 6. Gronowicz defeated Ashley Dille, 6-1, 6-0, and Helland topped Lindsay Villegas, 6-0, 6-0. Gronowicz improved to 15-9 overall while Helland''s record is now 19-3. In all, the Hornets dropped only two of the 38 games played in singles competition. In singles play this year, the Hornets are a combined 122-28.
Sacramento State opened the day by taking two of the three doubles matches to win the point. At the one, Karnaukhova and Gronowicz defeated Klokinis and Hunt, 8-1. At the two, freshman Anna Erikson and senior Ann Roslund defeated Susan McClelland and Dille, 8-0, to clinch the doubles point.
Northern Arizona finishes second in the Big Sky for the third year in a row. The Lumberjacks faced Sacramento State in the 2002 and 2003 title matches as well. With the title match loss NAU ends the season 10-14
overall.
Sacramento State, who improves to 23-3 overall, will now advance to the NCAA Regionals, to be played May 14-16 at 16 different campus sites. The finals of the NCAA Championship will be May 20-29 in Athens, Ga. The Hornets will be looking to win their first-round match for the first time in school history. The NCAA Selection Show will take place on Wednesday, May 5 on ESPNews at 4:35 pm EDT, 1:35 pm PDT.
Complete match results:
Big Sky Women''s Championship Final
No. 1 Sacramento State 4, No. 2 Northern Arizona 0
Singles
No. 1 Margarita Karnaukhova (SAC) defeated Christina Klokinis (NAU) 6-1,
6-0
No. 2 Anna Erikson (SAC) vs Julie Schmandt (NAU) DNF
No. 3 Roberta Fessenko (SAC) vs Karen Kmiec (NAU) DNF
No. 4 Marta Gronowicz (SAC) defeated Ashley Dille (NAU) 6-1, 6-0
No. 5 Ann Roslund (SAC) vs Susan McClelland (NAU) DNF
No. 6 Cecilia Helland (SAC) defeated Lindsay Villegas (NAU) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1 Karnaukhova/Gronowicz (SAC) defeated Klokinis/Hunt (NAU) 8-1
No. 2 Erikson/Roslund (SAC) defeated McClelland/Dille (NAU) 8-0
No. 3 Fessenko/Helland (SAC) vs Schmandt/Kmiec (NAU) DNF
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