SAN DIEGO — Junior Karina Jarlkaganova defeated Tammy Kevey, 7-5, 6-3, in the No. 4 singles match to secure a 4-3 win for Sacramento State, Saturday afternoon at the USD West Tennis Courts. The victory by Jarlkaganova broke a 3-3 tie and improved the 49th-ranked Hornets to 7-1 on the season. The Toreros fell to 2-5.
San Diego jumped to a 1-0 lead after taking two of the three doubles matches. Sacramento State’s tandem of Katrina Zheltova and Melissa Valenzuela cruised to an 8-2 win at No. 1 for the Hornets’ lone victory. From that point USD answered back with wins in the other matches. Tammy Kevey and Justine Perl downed Aileen Tsan and Anastassia Lyssenko, 8-6, at No. 3 to even doubles play at 1-1. Helene Lindstrand and Alexandra Demidova then outlasted Luba Schifris and Jarlkaganova at No. 2, 9-8.
The Hornets surged back ahead by winning the first three singles points. Schifris defeated Carla Tamborini, 6-3, 6-1, at No. 3, Tsan recorded a 6-0, 6-4, win at No. 6 over Milou Teeling, and Zheltova beat Wiesener, 6-1, 0-6, 6-1, at No. 1.
The Toreros bounced back to even the match, 3-3, with a pair of wins. Lindstrand downed Valenzuela, 6-0, 6-4, at No. 2 before Ellie Faulkner defeated Joyce Martinez Gutierrez, 6-3, 6-1, at No. 5.
Jarlkaganova then ended USD’s comeback attempt while improving to 7-1 on the season.
The Hornets return to action on Saturday, March 1, with a pair of matches against Big Sky Conference foes. Sacramento State will meet Weber State at 9 a.m. before taking on Portland State at 2 p.m. Both matches will take place at the Rio Del Oro Raquet Club.
SAN DIEGO — 
