The Sacramento State men’s tennis team has conquered Big Sky competition in the regular season and is ready for the league tournament.

With a 7-0 record, the Hornets will be the top-seeded team and they are eager to reign over the Big Sky again.

“We’re pretty excited to wrap up the season without a loss in the Big Sky,” assistant coach Kevin Kurtz said.

All but one of the team’s victories within the conference came with a margin of three sets or more. Sac State’s 4-3 victory against Eastern Washington was the exception.

“The men have a lot of confidence heading into the tournament, but they know Eastern Washington gave them one heck of a match during the season,” Director of Tennis Bill Campbell said.

If the Hornets win the Big Sky tournament they will make it to the National Collegiate Athletic Association D-I Tournament for the second straight year and sixth time overall.

“We have a good chance to win the tournament and probably face a challenge with Eastern Washington if we play them,” junior co-captain Sven-David Rueff said.

This is the eighth Big Sky regular season title in Sac State men’s tennis history and third consecutive since overall.

Last season the Hornets were ousted in the first round by then-No. 8 Oklahoma State.

“Besides Anton (Stryhas), who was here last year, and I think maybe Holden (Ching) last year with Washington, none of us have been to any of those big tournaments,” Rueff said.

The Hornets were provided with great play from several players, but sophomore co-captain Stryhas had one of the best individual seasons in the history of the program.

Stryhas finished with an impressive 20-1 record in singles this season, including a 17-game win streak.

“It’s pretty amazing to win that many matches in a row,” Kurtz said. “Streaks are great and it can be motivational to watch someone play like that.”

The Belarusian also teamed with freshman Kiryl Harbatsiuk for a 17-3 record in doubles.

The Hornets had 12 consecutive away matches in February and March and posted a 7-5 record, proving they can win on the road.

Playing so many away matches earlier in the season allowed the Hornets to play their final four matches at home.

“It was good that coach Kurtz put the away matches earlier in the season,” Rueff said.

Kurtz, who is in charge of the scheduling, used this strategy because he believed it would make things easier on the players because of final exams.

“All the other big schools do it, like the Pac-10, so I figured we need to do it too,” he said.

The Hornets begin Big Sky Tournament play Friday, April 25, and lasts through Sunday, April 27.

“It would be valuable for the guys to get experience and make contacts with players from other schools,” Kurtz said. “It goes way beyond tennis.”

NCAA D-I Tournament play begins Friday, May 9, and lasts through Saturday, May 10.

Cameron Ross can be reached at [email protected]