The Sacramento men’s tennis team is hitting its stride at the right time.

The Hornets have won 16 games this the season and, with a win over rival UC Davis on Friday, are in the lead to take home the Causeway Cup. With only three events left to go before the winner is crowned, the victory against the cross-town rival was significant.

“It means a lot to us. We’re big rivals and we usually have close matches. The whole team was pumped up to play (UC Davis). We came out on top and played really well. We actually beat them pretty easily this time,” said freshman Jason Smith, who won both singles and doubles matches against the Aggies.

The team has played well all season long, posting a 16-6 overall record while going 7-0 in Big Sky conference play. After losing four out of the first five games to start the season, the Hornets have bounced back in the Big Sky Conference to become a team to be reckoned with.

The Hornets excel in both singles and doubles play behind a roster that combines seasoned players with up and coming underclassman.

Juniors Anton Stryhas and Holden Ching are the lone upperclassmen on the team, while freshman Jason Smith and sophomores Kiryl Harbatsiuk and Artur Klimenka have all been recognized for their stellar play. Smith has had an immediate impact in his first college season, winning the Big Sky Men’s Tennis Player of the Week for matches played from March 10-18.

Harbatsiuk, a Player of the Week recipient in the first week of April, is having an impressive season playing No. 1 singles and doubles for the Hornets. Compiling an 18-4 record in singles play and 14-2 in doubles, the sophomore from Minsk, Belarus, will be counted on to continue his stellar play in the postseason.

“We’re always trying to be at the top of our conference and try to be number one. We haven’t lost this year in the conference so we’ve done really well in that aspect,” Smith said.

The team has played tough competition all season long, facing five ranked teams this year. Although the Hornets were unable to win a match against the likes of USC and Stanford, the experience the team received will be an advantage heading into the postseason.

“We’ve played a lot of tough matches this season. The only reason we did that was to gain experience to help us at the end of the year. Hopefully, we’ve had a tough enough schedule against tough enough teams that we’ll be ready to fight and compete in the Big Sky Tournament,” said men’s assistant coach Kevin Kurtz.

With only one home game left before the Big Sky Tournament, the Hornets are diligently preparing to take home the tournament title. The Hornets have been on the big stage before, losing the title match to Eastern Washington 4-3 a year ago. The core players on that team have stayed intact and are looking to reverse last season’s disappointing finish.

The last regular game of the season will be played at home against Montana State on Thursday. The team will be hosting the Big Sky Tournament at the Golden River Racquet Club from Friday to Sunday.

Michael Mital can be reached at [email protected]