The close singles match in position No. 1 was the decisive point that allowed Sacramento State women’s tennis to claim the 4-3 win over the University of San Diego at the Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center this afternoon.

Hornets’ No. 1 player Alina Soltanici topped USD’s Marta Stojanovic in their first set 6-2 but lost her second one 2-6, and the third set went to a tiebreaker after back-and-forth rallying by both opponents. The sophomore battled to pull out the point, downing Stojanovic 7-6 (7-1) to get the overall victory. Currently, Soltanici is 2-2 in matches pushed to a third set.

This feat moves Sac State to a 8-7 record while USD was lowered to 1-6. In all three of the Hornets’ close matches this spring, the team has edged their competition 3-0 when they’ve been decided by a point.

Both teams traded scores until the final singles match was completed. The Toreros were the first to jump out and nab the doubles point after all three of the contests were pushed to the brink.

The Hornets won in No. 3 doubles as Ana Loaiza Esquivias and Daria Savchenko defeated Mikayla Morkel-Brink and Carly Naslund 6-4. However, the Toreros fought back and took doubles No. 1 (6-3) and 2 (6-4) respectively to give them the 1-0 advantage.

Sac State tied the event up after Savchenko was the first to conclude her singles match in position No. 6, narrowly missing a straight sets sweep over USD’s Janine Koleta (6-1, 6-0).

In the next three singles matches, the teams exchanged points with the Toreros’ Drew Spinosa taking position No. 3 from sophomore Deimante Bulatovaite (6-3, 6-4), Loaiza Esquivias’ come from behind win over USD’s Morkel-Brink 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 in singles No. 5, and Dana Oppinger’s finishing off Sac State’s Anna-Maria Nau 7-5, 7-6 (10-8).

USD retained a 3-2 edge.

Hornets’ captain Olivia Boija was the women’s final hope to propel them back into the competition and she produced despite losing her first set 4-6. The junior downed Shani Blecher 6-3, 6-4 to even up the score at three-all in position No. 4.

Boija is now 7-8 in singles.

The women will continue on the road tomorrow as they face Loyola Marymount University (3-9) in the LMU Tennis Center at 12 p.m.