The Sacramento State women’s tennis team opened its season on Saturday, playing against the University of Southern California. On Sunday, it played against Texas Tech in Tempe, Ariz. The Hornets lost to both teams and dropped to No. 48 in the national rankings.

On Saturday, the Hornets took on USC, ranked No. 16 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, with competitions in singles and doubles but were unable to win, with USC putting forward four nationally-ranked players.

USC’s Sabrina Santamaria, ITA ranked at No. 18, defeated Sac State’s Sophie Lohscheidt, 6-2 and 6-0.

Zoe Scandalis, ITA ranked No. 19, defeated Sac State’s Tatsiana Kapshai in the singles matchup, 6-4 and 6-1.

In doubles, Sac State’s Sophie Lohschedit and Katharina Knoebl were matched against USC’s Zoe Scandalis and Valeria Pulido, with USC winning, 8-0.

The Hornets went on to play against Texas Tech on Sunday, losing again, with a final score of 1-6.

Hornet Kapshai, reigning Big Sky Conference player of the year had the only win for Sac State against Texas Tech’s Liz Ullathorne, 6-3, 3-6 and 6-1. Kapshai also competed with Rebeca Delgado against Texas Tech’s Samantha Adams and Kenna Kilgo, with Sac State losing 8-5.

The Hornets lost all of the other matches against Texas Tech: five single matches and two doubles matches were lost to the Red Raiders.

The Hornets will host Fresno State on Feb. 4 in Rio Del Oro RC.

Joe de Ocampo can be reached at [email protected].