WOMEN'S TENNIS WINS SEVENTH STRAIGHT BIG SKY TITLE

4/27/2008

GOLD RIVER, Calif. — The Sacramento State women’s tennis won its seventh straight Big Sky Conference title with a 4-0 defeat of Northern Arizona, Sunday afternoon at the Gold River Racquet Club. With the win, the Hornets earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Championships and improve to 21-6 overall. The team has also won 52 straight matches over Big Sky opponents.

Sacramento State scored the first point of the match by winning two of the three doubles matches. The team of Katrina Zheltova and Melissa Valenzuela won the No. 1 doubles match, 8-0, over Edit Suhajda and Osi Golovics. The Lumberjacks then evened the doubles matches with an 8-5 win at No. 2 from Stephanie Vallejos and Aimee Oki over Joyce Martinez Gutierrez and Karina Jarlkaganova. The deciding match at No. 3 ended in favor of the Hornets when Anastassia Lyssenko and Aileen Tsan outlasted Kim Van Ginkel and Leslie Vial, 9-7.

In singles play, Zheltova struck first with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Suhajda at No. 1. Martinez provided the second victory when she downed Stacey Pinchbeck, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 5. The Hornets then clinched the match at No. 2 where Lysssenko recorded a 7-5, 6-3 win over Golovics.

The women’s tennis team becomes the fifth team to win a Big Sky title this season, joining women’s soccer, volleyball, and men’s and women’s indoor track and field.

Sacramento State 4, Northern Arizona 0

Singles competition
1. Katrina Zheltova (SAC) def. Edit Suhajda (NAU) 6-3, 6-1
2. Anastassia Lyssenko (SAC) def. Orsi Golovics (NAU) 7-5, 6-3
3. Melissa Valenzuela (SAC) vs. Stephanie Vallejos (NAU) 3-6, 4-3, unfinished
4. Karina Jarlkaganova (SAC) vs. Kim Van Ginkel (NAU) 6-4, 5-2, unfinished
5. Joyce Martinez Gutierrez (SAC) def. Stacey Pinchbeck (NAU) 6-1, 6-1
6. Aileen Tsan (SAC) vs. Leslie Vial (NAU) 6-2, 4-4, unfinished

Doubles competition
1. Katrina Zheltova/Melissa Valenzuela (SAC) def. Edit Suhajda/Orsi Golovics (NAU) 8-0
2. Stephanie Vallejos/Aimee Oki (NAU) def. Joyce Martinez Gutierrez/Karina Jarlkaganova (SAC) 8-5
3. Anastassia Lyssenko/Aileen Tsan (SAC) def. Kim Van Ginkel/Leslie Vial (NAU) 9-7

Northern Arizona 15-8, 7-1 BSC
Sacramento State 21-6, 8-0 BSC

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,5,2)