Sacramento State men’s tennis team held onto its ranking for only six days. With 264 Division I teams fighting for the top 75 spots, Sac State (4-3) was unable to keep its Intercollegiate Tennis Association ranking due to a 13 day layoff.

In the ITA poll released on Feb. 27, Sac State was missing in action.

“If (we) play every week against a ranked team, we can steal a ranking or get more ranking,” coach Vyacheslav Konikov said.

The tennis team felt honored to be nationally recognized by the ITA on Feb. 21. Its No. 74 ranking marked the first time since 2001 Sac State men’s tennis has been ranked.

Beating then ranked Cal Poly helped earn them a national ranking.

“It was tough. The games were tougher than the score would indicate,” freshman Xavier Barajas-Smith said.

Sac State is not satisfied with where it is. Freshman Timothy Lantin said he thinks the team will be ranked much higher in upcoming weeks.

“We are definitely not satisfied. We want to be as high as we can go,” he said. Lantin said top 20 or top 30 is attainable.”We will start being hunted if we improve our ranking,” Lantin said.

The coaches anticipated a tough match from New Mexico and New Mexico State, and by winning both matches last weekend, they will regain its ITA ranking.

Senior Miguel Camino said by beating New Mexico and New Mexico State, he fully expects Sac State to enter the top 60.

The team has already matched up earlier in the season against New Mexico in November at the Oregon Invitational.

“Our team saw three of their guys play, so it should help us tactically,” assistant coach Kevin Kurtz said.

In the two games, Barajas-Smith won both matches and improved to 6-0 in singles.

Barajas-Smith avenged his loss last year to New Mexico’s No. 1 where he had two match points in the second set.

This time it went three sets with Barajas-Smith prevailing.

Unfortunately, Sac State men’s tennis team failed to recapture its Intercollegiate Tennis Association ranking, falling to No. 66 New Mexico 4-3.

Kurtz said he was proud of the team’s effort in both matches, but was devastated with the final outcome of the New Mexico match.

The New Mexico Lobos improved to 6-2 overall and 5-0 at home.

Sac State won the top two singles matches, but lost in the last four singles. The doubles won the third point for the Hornets.

Anton Stryhas did not lose all weekend. He improved his singles record to 61.

Stryhas and Barajas-Smith excelled due to their experience of playing New Mexico players in the Oregon Invitational November.

Before the clash with New Mexico, Sac State cruised past New Mexico State 6-1.

No. 1 singles player Barajas-Smith led the Hornets, winning convincingly 6-1, 6-2, as No. 1 through No. 5 singles did not drop a set.

At No. 6 singles, Lantin lost in a dramatic third set tiebreaker 10-8, giving New Mexico State its only point. It was Lantin’s first defeat of the year. He was only a couple of points from staying unbeaten.

“I should have pulled it out when I had the chance. I should have played more relaxed,” Lantin said.

On the doubles side, Sac State’s men’s team of Ramon Perez and Warwick Foy won both matches, extending their record to 7-0 at No. 3 doubles this season.

It was a tough journey for the Hornets to get a ranking. Sac State dropped its first match of the year at Oregon and then rebounded in conference by winning at Eastern Washington.

Next, Sac State had three matches in San Luis Obispo. The undermanned Hornets started the weekend falling to UC San Diego 4-3. No. 1 singles player Barajas-Smith wasn’t able to compete, which made all the players move up a spot in the rotation.

“Our heads were down after that match,” Kurtz said.

Sac State’s heads rose the next day before Nevada. Coach Konikov urged the team to be professional and stop showing negative body language. Sac State responded by beating Nevada 6-1 and then beat Cal Poly 6-1.

Seniors Gabriel Loredo and Perez were the main reasons for the turnaround, Kurtz said.

Konikov said the way Loredo and Perez carry themselves on the court is contagious.

Barajas-Smith said he credits his teammates for playing as a team and thinks all the coaches played a crucial role in changing the team’s attitude.

The aftermath of the UC San Diego match brought the team closer together. Kurtz said it is great for the freshmen’s psyche to be ranked.

Their practices have risen in intensity since the matches in San Luis Obispo, Kurtz said.

Konikov said that having a ranking or fighting for one comes with expectations. Perez felt good about the ranking and said the team can do much better than No. 74.

He said the ranking had not changed the way he practiced and admitted he only knew about the ranking because of the media.

“I am a senior, so it is my last year. I am practicing with more intensity each day,” Perez said.

Tyrone Bowman can be reached at [email protected]