LYSSENKO AND RUEFF SWEEP BIG SKY TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARDS

4/1/2008

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Sacramento State men’s and women’s tennis teams swept this week’s Big Sky Conference Player of the Week awards as junior Anastassia Lyssenko earned the women’s award and junior Sven-David Rueff earned the men’s award.

Both players helped their respective teams go undefeated in Big Sky play last week (Hornet women went 4-0; the men went 3-0), and clinch the No. 1 seed for the Big Sky Tournament later this month. In addition, Sacramento State has now combined to earn 10 Big Sky Player of the Week awards this season - six on the men’s side, four on the women’s side.

The honor was the first of the season for both Lyssenko and Rueff, and a Hornet men’s player has now earned the award three straight weeks and five times in the last six weeks. The Sacramento State women (16-4, 8-0) have won 48 straight Big Sky matches dating back to 2002, while the men’s team (13-7, 7-0) has won 16 straight matches against Big Sky opposition dating back to last season.

A native of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, Lyssenko went 4-0 in both singles and doubles play last week. In singles action, Lyssenko dropped just 11 of 59 games played, and did not lose a set. She recorded two victories at No. 2 singles, a victory at No. 3 singles, as well as a victory at No. 4 singles. At No. 3 doubles, Lyssenko combined with teammate Aileen Tsan to win all four matches by 8-2 or 8-3 scores.

She now has a five-match winning streak in both singles and doubles play, and has posted a 12-7 dual-match singles record, and a 13-6 mark in doubles play.

Rueff went 3-0 in singles play and 2-1 in doubles action. In the Hornets’ showdown with second-place Eastern Washington, Rueff’s three-set victory over Kenneth Norling at No. 5 snapped a 3-3 tie and gave the Hornets an important 4-3 victory over the Eagles. He also beat Weber State’s Chris Williams at No. 5 (3-6, 6-1, 6-0) and Idaho State’s Alex Buceta at No. 4 (6-3, 6-0).

In doubles play, the Basel, Switzerland, native paired with teammate Artur Klimenka to beat a tandem from Weber State (9-7) and Idaho State (8-4). In his first season with the Hornets after transferring from Flagler College, Rueff has now won nine straight singles matches, and is 12-8 this season, including 1-1 at No. 4, 8-6 at No. 5, and 3-1 at No. 6. In addition, he is 14-5 in doubles play, including 12-4 with Klimenka at both the Nos. 2 and 3 spots in the Hornets’ doubles lineup.

The Sacramento State men have just one match remaining on the regular season schedule (April 12 vs. Portland State), and the women have three non-conference matches remaining before the Big Sky Tournament takes place on April 25-27 at the Gold River Racquet Club.