The Women’s tennis team looks to win their sixth straight Big Sky Championship this weekend, when they host the tournament at Gold River Racquet Club in Gold River. The tournament will begin on Friday and go on through the weekend till Sunday.

There are eight teams in the Big Sky Conference and the top six will go to the tournament. The number one and two seeds will receive a first round bye. The Hornets will have the number one seed.

Sac State finished the regular season with a record of 15-6 and did not lose one Big Sky match, sweeping league play 7-0. The Hornets haven’t even lost one single set to conference play, winning every match in dominating fashion, 7-0 in seven matches. Standouts this year for the Hornets were senior Celilia Hellend, finishing the regular season with a record of 20-1, and freshman Katrina Zheltova (16-5). For doubles play the dominant duo was Aileen Tsan and Anastassia Lyssenko with an overall season record of 17-2.

The Hornets received the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week Award 10 out of 11 times this year. Katrina Zheltova led the way receiving the award four times, Joyce Martinez Gutierrez and Cecilia Hellend received two awards each, and Luba Schifris and Anastassia Lyssenko each received one.

Director of Tennis Bill Campell said that he was very impressed with how the team stepped up this season after losing there number one player Katrina Bandere, early in the season to a back injury.

“The team has really improved this year and their tennis has only gotten better and better.” Campbell said.

Sophomore Luba Schifris said that she is also very impressed with how this season went and she thinks next year the team can do even better.

Schifris said the most difficult conference team the Hornets faced this year in regular season was the University of Northern Arizona. The Lumberjacks finished the year with an overall record of 11-9 and 6-1 in conference play with their only loss to the Hornets (7-0). The Lumberjacks will be the number two seed in the tournament and will also receive a first round bye.

Last year the conference championship took place at Idaho State. Schifris said this year she looks forward to the conference championship taking place in the Sacramento area.

“With all the support from are fans it will make it easier and will help us a lot.” Schifris said.

Due to a proposal to the NCAA by Campbell, the Big Sky Championship will be held in Sacramento for the next three years. The winner of the Big Sky Conference tournament will also receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Sean Wolf can be reached at [email protected]