SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento State senior Margarita Karnaukhova and freshman Anastassia Lyssenko were selected to compete in the NCAA Women’s Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships, it was announced by the NCAA Div. I Women’s Tennis Subcommittee.As the top player in the Big Sky Conference, Karnaukhova earned the league’s automatic berth into the singles championships. Karnaukhova and Lyssenko earned the Big Sky’s automatic berth as the league’s top doubles team. Karnaukhova will make her third-straight appearance at the singles championships, and first at the doubles championships. In fact, the tandem of Karnaukhova/Lyssenko became the first Hornet duo to ever receive a berth into the doubles championship. Dates and pairings for both tournaments will be announced by the NCAA on Tuesday, May 23.
Karnaukhova, who recently became the first student-athlete in the 43-year history of the Big Sky Conference to earn four-consecutive conference MVP awards, has enjoyed success in previous years at the NCAA Singles Championships. In 2004, the Krasnodar, Russia, native advanced to the sweet 16 and became the first women’s tennis player in program history to earn All-American honors. Last year, she lost in the second round of the tournament.
Battling a back injury throughout the season which has limited her play this year, Karnaukhova still managed a 10-6 record as the Hornets’ No. 1 singles players. Currently ranked 74th in the nation among all Div. I singles player, Karnaukhova has been ranked as high as 14th during her career and has a dual-match record of 65-16 during her four-year tenure at Sacramento State.
Karnaukhova and Lyssenko teamed to post an 8-7 record at No. 1 doubles for the Hornets. Lyssenko, who is a freshman from Rostov-on-Don, Russia, also posted a 7-7 record in singles play. She played at least one match at Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 singles during the season.
Sacramento State, which is currently ranked 60th in the nation, will begin play in the NCAA Women’s Tennis Team Championship on Friday, May 12, against 23rd-ranked Fresno State at 1 p.m. The match will take place at the Hellman Tennis Complex in Berkeley. Should the Hornets win that match, they would advance to the second round of the tournament to play either Western Michigan or 11th-ranked Cal on Saturday, May 13, at noon. The Hornets have advanced to the NCAA Tournament five-straight years.
