GOLD RIVER, Calif. — The top two seeds in both the women’s and men’s draws each recorded victories and will meet in Sunday’s finals of the 2008 Big Sky Conference Tennis Championships at the Gold River Racquet Club.
The women’s side saw a pair of 4-0 wins. Top-seeded Sacramento State swept Eastern Washington while No. 2 Northern Arizona blanked Montana State. The men had a pair of marathon matches that ended in 4-3 decisions. Sacramento State held on to defeated Montana and Eastern Washington defeated Montana State.
After winning the doubles point, the Northern Arizona women picked up three singles victories for its win. The first came at No. 6 where Leslie Vial defeated McKenzie Hilmer, 6-3, 6-1. The second was from Orsi Golovics at No. 2 where she downed Nuria Hernandez, 6-3, 6-3. The clinching point was at No. 3 where Stephanie Vallejos bettered Laura Villega, 6-2, 6-1.
Sacramento State followed the same path to its victory. Katrina Zheltova defeated Kasey Knox 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 for the first singles win. Karina Jarlkaganova made the score 3-0 with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Marie Demerath and Joyce Martinez Gutierrez closed out the match with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Amanda Mankovits at No. 5.
In the men’s matches, Sacramento State’s Sven-David Rueff defeated David Cysneiros, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 at No. 5 to provide the Hornets a 4-3 victory. Sacramento State won the doubles point and the first two singles matches before Montana won the next three to force the deciding match.
Eastern Washington was also pushed to the limit before walking away with a win. Montana State won the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead. The first four singles matches ended in straight sets and saw MSU lead 3-2. From that point, Daniel Pez defeated Esteban Derrero, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 at No. 6 and Art Karas outlasted Justin Haucks, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 to advance the Eagles into the finals.
The women’s championship will begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday while the men will start at 2 p.m.
Women's Results
No. 1 Sacramento State 4, No. 5 Eastern Washington 0
No. 2 Northern Arizona 4, No. 3 Montana State 0
Men's Results
No. 1 Sacramento State 4, No. 6 Montana 3
No. 2 Eastern Washington 4, No. 3 Montana State 3
