OGDEN, Utah - Junior Margarita Karnaukhova was named Big Sky Conference women’s tennis Player of the Week, it was announced Tuesday by the league office. This marks the fourth time this season Karnaukhova has won the award and her seventh overall in her career. The Krasnodar, Russia, native becomes the first player in Big Sky Women’s Tennis history to have won the player of the week award four times in one season.Karnaukhova, currently ranked 21st in the nation, defeated No. 9 Dea Sumantri of Washington, 4-6 6-4, 6-3, on Friday and then followed up with a three-set win over No. 55 Jenny Kuehn of Tulane, 6-1, 6-7, 7-5., on Sunday. Sacramento State ran its winning streak to 12 straight-matches with a 4-3 win over then No. 19 Washington. The streak was snapped against No. 19 Tulane, a 4-3 winner over the Hornets. She is now 16-2 on the season.
Sacramento State moved up in the ITA rankings this week to No. 32, which is the highest ranking this season. The No. 32 ranking is now second-best in school history, as the Hornets were ranked No. 28 in the ITA poll on April 13 of last season.
The Hornets return to action on Friday as the squad travels to Southern California for three matches in as many days. On Friday, they will take on host UC Irvine. First serve against the Anteaters is set for 1:30 p.m.
