Sophomore Ramon Perez clinched the match win for Sacramento State to advance to the Big Sky Championship match tomorrow vs. Montana State. |
PHOENIX, Ariz. - The Sacramento State men’s tennis team, seeded third, won the doubles point and held on to split the singles matches to defeat second-seed Northern Arizona, 4-3, in the Big Sky Conference Semifinals, Friday morning at the Phoenix Tennis Center. With the win, the Hornets are now 11-13 on the year. NAU finishes the year with a 10-12 record. Sacramento State will take on top-seeded Montana State, a 4-0 winner over fifth-seed Idaho State, Saturday morning at 9 a.m. The Hornets will be looking for the team’s sixth championship in the past eight years. MSU is looking to win their second-consecutive title.The Hornets avenged a 4-3 loss to the Lumberjacks back on April 15 at Sacramento State.
Sacramento State opened the day by taking two of the three doubles matches to claim the point. At the one, senior Peter Farkas and junior Junaid Hossain defeated Jonas Jegers and Jamie Maxwell, 8-5. At the two, sophomores Warwick Foy and Ramon Perez fell to Thibault Schram and Henrik Lilja, 8-4. The doubles point was then decided at the three where junior Thomas Morton and sophomore Joakim Rydberg defeated Jeremy Coll and Brian Grooms, 9-7.
At the one, senior Rydberg picked up the third point of the match as he defeated Schram, 6-4, 6-1. At the two, Hossain fell to Lilja, 6-4, 6-3. At the three, Morton dropped a 6-3, 6-1 decision to Coll. Farkas dropped his match at the four to Maxwell, 6-1, 7-5. At the five, Foy picked up the second point of the day when he defeated Grooms, 6-4, 6-2. At the six, Perez clinched the match win for Sacramento State with a 7-6 (10-8), 6-4 win over Jegers.
Sacramento State and Montana State meet in the championship match for the fourth time. In 1998, the Hornets won their first Big Sky title with a 4-1 win. In 2000, MSU snapped the Hornets back-to-back championships with a 4-2 win. In 2002, Sacramento State claimed the title with a 4-3 win in Bozeman to win the squad’s second of three-straight championships.
2005 Big Sky Conference Tournament Semifinals
No. 3 Sacramento State 4
No. 2 Northern Arizona 3
Phoenix Tennis Center, Phoenix, Ariz.
Singles
1. Joakim Rydberg (SAC) def. Thibault Schram (NAU) 6-4, 6-1
2. Junaid Hossain (SAC) def. by Henrik Lilja (NAU) 6-4, 6-3
3. Thomas Morton (SAC) def. by Jeremy Coll (NAU) 6-3, 6-1
4. Peter Farkas (SAC) def. by Jamie Maxwell (NAU) 6-1, 7-5
5. Warwick Foy (SAC) def. Brian Grooms (NAU) 6-4, 6-2
6. Ramon Perez (SAC) def. Jonas Jegers (NAU) 7-6 (10-8), 6-4
Doubles
1. Farkas/Hossain (SAC) def. Jegers/Maxwell (NAU) 8-5
2. Foy/Perez (SAC) def. by Schram/Lilja (NAU) 8-4
3. Morton/Rydberg (SAC) def. Coll/Grooms (NAU) 9-7
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,5,1,4,3,6)
