When Tuesday began, the Eastern Washington University and Sacramento State men’s tennis teams both sat atop the Big Sky conference standings undefeated. When the day ended, Sac State was the only team that remained there.

This was largely due to senior Javier Millan’s never-give-up effort that provided the decisive point in the Hornets 4-3 win over the Eagles on Tuesday afternoon at the Spare Time Indoor Tennis Center in Sacramento.

Millan, who trailed 0-5 at one point during his first match and 3-4 during his second match, came from behind in both instances and beat James Russell 7-6 (6), 6-4 to seal the victory for the Hornets (5-10, 4-0).

The Eagles (9-7, 3-1) jumped out to an early lead when they took the doubles point by winning two of the three doubles matches. Millan, who was paired with freshman Marek Marksoo, was the only victorious duo for the Hornets during those three initial matches.

In singles play, Marksoo tied the match at 1-1 when he beat his opponent 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3. Malko then gave the Hornets a 2-1 lead when he won his match 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1. But the Eagles knotted things up at 2-2 when Eastern Washington’s Julian Sanchez beat freshman Roy Brandys 6-3, 6-1.

But after freshman Jonathan Hultkrantz won his singles match and put the Hornets up 3-2, Millan’s comeback effort left the Hornets alone in first place as well as undefeated in their last 23 Big Sky matches dating back to the 2010 season.

David Somers can be reached at [email protected].