With two 7-0 road wins over rivals Montana State and Montana on Saturday, the 46th-ranked women’s tennis team finished their Big Sky conference schedule a perfect 6-0. The wins mark an unprecedented fifth consecutive flawless conference campaign by the Hornets.

The predominantly freshmen lineup took it to their opponents over the weekend, winning every singles match. At the No. 1 spot, Luba Schifris continued her hot streak, moving to 5-0 at the lead position, 9-7 overall. Irina Taranenko got the opportunity to play at No. 6, filling in nicely and improving to 4-2.

No. 3 Karina Jarlkaganova moved to 9-7 on the season with her victories, but said that the scores belied the fight the Montana teams had in them.

“They were actually good teams. There were some tough matches even though it was 7-0, 7-0. It wasn’t easy, every match was tough,” Jarlkaganova said.

Usually No. 2, the strong play of Schifris, in spite of her own wrist sprain, has the added bonus of allowing coach Bill Campbell to rest 72nd-ranked Margarita Karnaukhova’s ailing back.

“She’s doing very well at either No. 1 or No. 2, and I think people have to realize she’s hurt, so she doesn’t get to use all her shots,” Campbell said.

He also emphasized that it’s not about one player’s strong performance this year, that everyone has stepped up when the team has needed it.

“It’s nice to know we have the depth on the team to have everybody move up one position. Luba isn’t the only one who moves up a notch when we give Rita a rest.”

Although he’s happy about the team’s five consecutive perfect seasons, they’ve come a long way since Campbell’s first season as coach, to the point where he expects the team to win the conference. The team has been picked to win the Big Sky the past few seasons.

“I think it’s a nice accomplishment, considering the first year we hardly won a game against anybody, let alone teams in our conference,” Campbell said.

Today, the Hornets will try to do their part in helping Sacramento State win the Causeway Cup, hosting UC Davis at Rio Del Oro Racquet Club at 3 p.m., although Campbell said that the start time could get moved up.

With so many of the players coming from foreign countries, the significance of a win over the Aggies might be lost on them.

“What I’ve told them so far is that I’ve talked about the rivalry with Davis and that it’s an important match for us to win. We need the win to get another 2.5 points,” Campbell said.

Campbell added that he would have a motivational talk with them on Tuesday.

“If they didn’t know about it before, they will after (Tuesday).”

Josh Terrell can be reached at [email protected]