WOMEN’S TENNIS WINS, WILL PLAY NORTHERN ARIZONA IN SUNDAY’S BIG SKY CHAMPIONSHIP

4/24/2010

GOLD RIVER, Calif. — Sunday's Big Sky Conference women’s tennis finals will have a familiar look tomorrow at the Gold River Racquet Club. With victories by top-seeded Sacramento State and No. 2 seed Northern Arizona in today’s semifinals, the two teams will face each other in tomorrow’s championship for the fifth consecutive year.

The Hornets defeated No. 4 seed Montana State (4-0) in one semifinal while Northern Arizona knocked off No. 3 seed Montana (4-2) in the other semifinal. The two teams will play for the Big Sky crown and automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. The match will be played at the Gold River Racquet Club and admission is free.

With the victory, Sacramento State (18-6) has now won 71 straight matches against conference competition (counting regular season and tournament matches). In addition, the Hornets move one step closer to winning their ninth consecutive Big Sky Tournament title, a streak which dates back to 2002.

The Hornets won the doubles point, and received straight set wins from Rebecca Delgado (6-0, 6-1), Clarisse Baca (6-0, 6-1) and Aileen Tsan (6-1, 6-0) to score the necessary four points for victory. All matches during the Big Sky Tournament are stopped once a team garners four points. Sacramento State also led in the other three singles matches when play was stopped.

On the doubles side, the Hornets’ tandems of Baca/Maria Meliuk (8-2) and Tsan/Zalina Nazaraova (8-2) were victorious.

The other semifinal was much closer as Northern Arizona and Montana played for over four hours. With the Lumberjacks leading, 3-2, the final two singles matches both headed into the third set. NAU’s Nicole Perez eventually won her match at No. 6 by a score of 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1) to clinch the victory for the Lumberjacks. The final match, which was stopped after Perez’s win, was also tight in the third set.

This year marks the fourth straight season in which the Big Sky Tournament has been hosted by the Gold River Racquet Club.