PHOENIX — The Sacramento State men’s tennis team won the doubles point before taking four singles matches to claim a 5-0 victory over Weber State in the first round of the Big Sky Conference Championships on Thursday. The victory moves the third-seeded Hornets into a meeting with No. 2 Northern Arizona on Friday at the Phoenix Tennis Center.Sacramento State clinched the doubles point with a pair of victories. The team of Joakim Rydberg and Thomas Morton claimed an 8-1 win at No. 3 over Darrel Thomas and Zach Rideout before Ramon Perez and Warwick Foy downed Mathis Saberon and CJ Adamson, 8-6, at No. 2. The most competitive doubles match came at No. 1 where the Hornets’ Peter Farkas and Junaid Hossain and the Wildcats’ Jonathan Engelbrecht and Zach Levetan were tied 8-8 (6-6) when the match was stopped.
Rydberg kept Sacramento State’s momentum going in singles with a 6-2, 7-6, win over Engelbrecht at No. 1. The team earned its third point when Foy defeated Levetan, 6-3, 6-1, at No. 5. The Hornets then clinched, and earned an additional point, when two matches ended simultaneously. Perez rallied from a set down to defeat Daniel Abeaboeru, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 6 and Hossain beat Rideout, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
Sacramento State, which is currently 10-13, is looking for its sixth Big Sky title in the last eight years. The Hornets won the crown in 1998 and 1999 before finishing second in 2000. The team then won three-straight titles (2001-2003) before losing to Montana State last year.
Friday’s meeting will be the second in two weeks between Sacramento State and NAU. The Lumberjacks earned a 4-3 win over the Hornets on Apr. 15 in Sacramento. However, Hossain did not play singles or doubles in the match while nursing an ankle injury.
Idaho State defeated Montana, 4-0, in the other quarterfinal. The Bengals will take on top-seeded Montana State in the other semifinal on Friday.
Big Sky Conference Championships Quarterfinals
Sacramento State 5, Weber State 0
Singles
1. Joakim Rydberg, SAC def. Jonathan Engelbrecht, WSU 6-2, 7-6 (3)
2. Junaid Hossain, SAC def. Zach Rideout, WSU 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
3. Thomas Morton, SAC vs. Mathis Saberon, WSU 6-7 (4), 5-1 DNF
4. Peter Farkas, SAC vs. CJ Adamson, WSU 706 (4), 5-2 DNF
5. Warwick Foy, SAC def. Zach Levetan, WSU 6-3, 6-1
6. Ramon Perez, SAC def. Daniel Abeaboeru, WSU 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
Doubles
1. Farkas/Hossain, SAC vs. Engelbrecht/Levetan, WSU 8-8 (6-6) DNF
2. Perez/Foy, SAC def. Saberon/Adamson, WSU 8-6
3. Rydberg/Morton, SAC def. Thomas/Rideout, WSU 8-1
Sacramento State 10-13, Weber State 7-17
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (1,5,6,2)
