In a preseason poll Jan. 13, Big Sky Conference coaches chose both the Sacramento State men’s and women’s tennis teams to finish first and continue their dominance over the conference.

The Hornet women have won nine consecutive Big Sky championships, including 72 consecutive matches won against conference opposition dating back to the 2002 season.

The team finished the season 19-7 overall and 9-0 in conference play.

The Sac State women’s team returns five players from last season’s team who were consistent starters as singles players.

They are senior Milica Zivanovic, 2010 Big Sky most valuable player Tatsiana Kapshai and first team all-league selections Rebeca Delgado, Maria Meliuk and Clarisse Baca.

The Hornet women received the maximum of 64 points in the poll, followed by Northern Arizona University with 55 points total.

Sac State’s head coach Dima Hrynashka said he believes this year’s team is strong and has very few holes.

“This year I feel we have a solid team from the No. 1 player to the seventh ranked player on the team. The team looks ready to compete against any team and I look forward to another successful team,” she said.

Hrynashka said the team will be focusing on the game so that at end of the season the team will be among the best in women’s college tennis.

“We will be focusing on all parts of our game. We want to improve our singles and doubles play and right now things are looking good going into the season,” Hrynashka said. “And by the end of the season we want to be ranked in the top 20 in the National Collegiate rankings. Our goals include winning all our matches, win the conference championship and return to the NCAA women’s college tennis championships.”

Hrynashka said the Hornet women will be led by the all-around play of team co-captains Clarisse Baca and Maria Meliuk.

Meliuk, the No. 3-ranked player on the team, said the team needs to stay the course and not worry about polls.

“I feel the team needs to go about its business because we have beaten everyone in the conference for the last nine seasons,” Meliuk said. “We need to focus on what we have been doing and we will be successful.”

Baca, the No. 4-ranked player on the team, said she is confident the team will meet its objectives for the season.

“Our goals as a team include: playing our best in every match, play as a team and to be ranked at the end of the season. We have a lot of great players and so we want to get as many ranked as possible,” Baca said.

“We had two good weeks of training before the season started, so our fitness has improved greatly. There is no reason why we can’t achieve all of our goals.”

As for the Sac State men’s team, it finished the 2010 season with a 17-12 record overall and 7-1 in conference play. The Hornet men also won their eighth conference title in the last 13 years.

All told, the Hornet men and women have combined to win 17 conference titles and make 16 NCAA tournament appearances since 1999.

The Sac State men return four players from the 2010 championship team and welcome seven new players to this year’s lineup.

They will be led by team co-captain and the reigning two-time Big Sky MVP Kiryl Harbatsiuk, who is ranked No. 16 in the nation.

Harbatsiuk will be accompanied by first team all-conference selection, junior Jason Smith and senior Marko Starcevic.

The Hornet men earned 63 out of a possible 64 total first-place votes, while Northern Arizona followed in second with 53 points.

Sac State’s head coach Slava Konikov said the early part of the team’s schedule is tough and will prepare them for league play.

“At the beginning of the season we play teams that are very good. Those matches give us perspective on what we need to do to get better and compete against teams in our conference,” Konikov said.

Konikov said he must introduce his new players to this unfamiliar level of tennis.

“I have explained to the team that we need to work on every aspect of our game. We have three new active players and they don’t know what college tennis is yet,” Konikov said.

All-conference selection Smith said the team will be working on a conference championship.

“One of our goals is: to make it past the first round of the NCAA tournament. Have yet to get past the first round when we have been in the tournament,” Smith said.

After losing the first two matches of the season to No. 2 USC and No. 8 Stanford, Harbatsiuk, the No. 16-ranked player, feels the information the Hornet men have learned will guide them through the season.

“After losing we realized that we have to fight for every ball, for every point. And not think just because the other team is ranked that we can just quit and not fight to the very end,” Harbatsiuk said.

Matt Harringtoncan be reached at [email protected]