For the seventh consecutive season, the Sacramento State women’s tennis team will appear in the NCAA Tournament.

The No. 53 Hornets will play the No. 21 Arizona State Sun Devils in round one at 10 a.m. on May 9 in Fresno.

Don’t let the ranking numbers fool you – they have more to do with the competition the teams play rather than their actual abilities to play, which means No. 21 and No. 53 are no far apart in skill level.

“I think we’re ranked quite a bit lower than we probably should be but it should be a very good match,” Director of Tennis Bill Campbell said.

Arizona State will be making its 21st consecutive appearance in the tournament, a record for most consecutive tournament appearances by a team for any sport at the university.

While the Hornets won their conference the Sun Devils did not, however, they had much tougher competition in the Pac-10.

The Hornets won the Big Sky with an 8-0 record and the Sun Devils were 4th in the Pac-10 with a 6-7 record.

“We’re all really excited about playing against Arizona because it’s one of the best chances we’ve had,” junior Joyce Martinez Gutierrez said. “It’s a really good opportunity for us to show our intensity level.”

Sac State is the only team from the Big Sky going to the NCAA Tournament, while there are seven teams going form the Pac-10.

“A really good thing is that they’ve never really played against us before so they don’t know what to expect,” Martinez said.

The teams boast a total of three ranked players, one for Sac State and two for Arizona State.

Katrina Zheltova of the Hornets is ranked 34th in the country.

Nadia Abdala is ranked 23rd and Kelcy McKenna is ranked 26th for the Sun Devils.

Based on statistics from the season and barring any injuries, the Hornets lineup looks to be Zheltova at No. 1, freshman Melissa Valenzuela at No. 2, junior Anastassia Lyssenko at No. 3, junior Luba Schifris at No. 4, junior Karina Jarlkaganova at No. 5 and Martinez at No. 6.

Schifris was injured and didn’t participate in the Big Sky Tournament but will likely compete against Arizona State and brings a lot to the table as a leader.

“It was unfortunate that I couldn’t compete in the league championship but I will be healthy and ready for the NCAA Tournament,” Schifris said.

“I’m hoping Luba can play. That would help us a lot,” Campbell said.

For the Sun Devils, the lineup will probably be Nadia Abdala at No. 1, McKenna at No. 2, Laila Abdala at No. 3, Micaela Hein at No. 4, Jessica Leitch at No. 5 and Ashlee Brown at No. 6.

Doubles play represents a critical point in matches because it is played first and the winner gets a 1-0 lead going into singles.

“We’re much better singles players than doubles players,” Campbell said.

The Sun Devils have two ranked pairings while the Hornets have none.

The 30th-ranked No. 1 doubles team consists of the Abdala sisters and the 50th-ranked No. 2 doubles team consists of Leitch and Wendy Pilecka.

“I think the doubles point will be real tough,” Campbell said.

Although two of the doubles teams are ranked, the Abdala tandem had a losing record of 9-13. The Pilecka and Leitch tandem had a record of 13-4.

“In the end, they’re human beings with two hands and two legs and they’re no better than us until they prove it,” Martinez said.

The Hornets No. 1 doubles team of Zheltova and Valenzuela had a 10-5 record while the No. 2 team of Jarlkaganova and Schifris had a record of 12-6.

Tsan and Lyssenko captured the most doubles wins for the Hornets with 13 at the No. 3 spot and were 21-13 overall.

It will be an exciting match that tests the Hornets’ ability to compete with a perennial playoff team from the Pac-10.

“If we were to beat them, it would certainly help our rankings going into next year but basically you start out the next year within a couple positions of where you end the previous year,” Campbell said.

A win would definitely vault the Hornets in the rankings next year because they have no seniors leaving the team and would have a win over a very highly ranked school under their belt.

Cameron Ross can be reached at [email protected]