The No. 35-ranked Sacramento State women’s tennis team improved to 21-4 this season with wins over UC Santa Barbara on Friday and Big Sky rivals Northern Arizona and Montana on Saturday at the Sac State tennis courts.-

The victories closed out regular season play for the Hornets and extended their school-record 23-game winning streak against conference opponents. They finished a perfect 6-0 in conference match-ups this year.

The Hornets were so commanding this weekend that they did not surrender even one singles or doubles set during the three matches.

Margarita Karnaukhova, ranked No. 21 in the nation, continued her run this year. The star junior anchored coach Bill Campbell’s solid squad all year, finishing the season 23-2 at the No. 1 spot.- She was named the Big Sky Player of the Week four times.

– Sophomore Anna Erikson’s play was also stellar.-The 75th-ranked sophomore from Sweden tallied a 17-4 record, despite the presence of nagging injuries for most of the season. Fellow Swede and close friend Cecilia Helland was as impressive as anyone, breaking out with a 21-2 record on the year.

But it was certainly a team effort for the Hornets, who honored seniors Cristina Rivieccio and Roberta Fessenko with flowers for their hard work and dedication to the team.

Rivieccio, the lone American on the team — she’s actually Italian-American — enjoyed the multi-national look of the team this year.-

“Actually, it’s been a lot of fun playing with the girls and learning their cultures, both Swedish and Russian,” Rivieccio said. “I learned a lot.”-

Rivieccio will return next year as a student assistant coach with the team.

Fessenko listed wins over No. 10 Fresno last year and No. 19 Washington this year as her two favorite memories, in addition to her own strong performance in last year’s conference tournament when she was ranked No. 89 in the nation.- But above all, she will miss her close friends on the team the most.

“The girls, I just love them,” Fessenko said. “They are my family and I spend all of my time with them.- We’re always together, socially, non-socially … I have a tape that I’ve made of us, to remember them by.”

The Hornets will have two weeks to rest injuries and prepare for the Big Sky tournament, starting April 29 in Phoenix and hosted by Northern Arizona.

The Hornets earned the No. 1 seed this year and will return as three-time defending champions.

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Josh Terrell can be reached at [email protected]