MEN’S TENNIS COMPLETES PERFECT CONFERENCE SEASON, GETS SET FOR BIG SKY TOURNAMENT

4/23/2009

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento State received singles victories from Kiryl Harbatsiuk, Jason Smith, Anton Stryhas, Marko Starcevic, Holden Ching and Artur Klimenka to complete a 7-0 sweep of Montana State in a Big Sky Conference men’s tennis match Thursday afternoon at the Rio Del Oro Racquet Club.

With the victory, Sacramento State (17-8, 8-0) completed a perfect conference season for the third straight year, and the team has now won 24 straight regular season Big Sky matches dating back to 2006. The loss dropped Montana State to 13-10 overall and 5-3 in the conference. Today’s match was the last of the regular season for the Hornets, who will be the No. 1 seed for this week’s Big Sky Tournament (April 24-26), which will take place at the Gold River Racquet Club.

The Big Sky Tournament seedings are now set for the men’s tournament, as Sacramento State is the No. 1, followed by Eastern Washington (No. 2), Northern Arizona (No. 3), Weber State (No. 4), Montana State (No. 5) and Montana (No. 6). Both Sacramento State and Eastern Washington will receive first round byes by virtue of owning the top two seeds in the tournament. Northern Arizona will take on Montana, and Weber State will face Montana State at 10 a.m. in tomorrow’s quarterfinal matches.

Sacramento State will take on the lowest remaining seed in one semifinal match on Saturday at 10 a.m., while Eastern Washington will face the highest remaining seed at 10 a.m. The winner of Sunday’s championship match at 10 a.m. will receive an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, a place the Hornets have been five times in the last 10 years. Sacramento State will be looking for its seventh Big Sky Tournament championship since 1998 (1998-99, 2001-03, 2007).

After sweeping all three doubles matches to earn the doubles point, Stryhas (6-0, 6-1 at No. 3), Starcevic (7-6, 6-2), Ching (6-1, 6-2) and Klimenka (6-1, 6-4) each won their singles matches in straight sets. Harbatsiuk defeated Corey Smith at No. 1, 6-1, 6-7, 6-3, and Smith defeated Jakub Dybala, 6-7, 7-6 and 3-0 in the super tiebreaker. Dybala had to retire during the early stages of the super tiebreaker because of cramping.

Smith will enter the Big Sky Tournament with a nine-match singles winning streak while Harbatsiuk has won each of his last eight singles matches. The Hornets’ doubles teams remained strong as the team has now won the doubles point in seven straight matches and 15 of the last 16.

Free admission is being offered to all fans wishing to attend this week’s Big Sky Tournament.

Montana State vs Sacramento State
Apr 23, 2009 at Sacramento, Calif.
(Rio Del Oro Racquet Club)

Sacramento State 7, Montana State 0

Singles competition
1. HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SAC) def. SMITH, Corey (MSUM) 6-1, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3
2. SMITH, Jason (SAC) def. DYBALA, Jakub (MSUM) 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3), 0-0 (3-0), retired
3. STRYHAS, Anton (SAC) def. TURZANSKI, Pawel (MSUM) 6-0, 6-1
4. STARCEVIC, Marko (SAC) def. KEYES, Fletcher (MSUM) 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
5. CHING, Holden (SAC) def. FUENTES, Alberto (MSUM) 6-1, 6-2
6. KLIMENKA, Artur (SAC) def. FERRERO, Esteban (MSUM) 6-1, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. STRYHAS, Anton/HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SAC) def. DYBALA, Jakub/TURZANSKI, Pawel (MSUM) 8-1
2. CHING, Holden/STARCEVIC, Marko (SAC) def. SMITH, Corey/KEYES, Fletcher (MSUM) 8-4
3. KLIMENKA, Artur/SMITH, Jason (SAC) def. FUENTES, Alberto/PERKINS, Myles (MSUM) 8-2

Match Notes:
Montana State 13-10, 5-3
Sacramento State 17-6, 8-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (3,5,6,4,1,2)