In what has become a common occurrence during the second half of the season, the Sacramento State men’s tennis team once again found themselves in a close match and lost to Santa Clara University on Wednesday by a final of 4-3.

The match against Santa Clara represented the ninth match for the Hornets in their last 13 that has been decided by one point. Sac State has a record of 3-6 in these matches.

With the loss, the Hornets will officially be locked into the No. 5 seed for the Big Sky Conference Tournament. Their first round opponent will likely be the University of Idaho, who went 8-3 in conference play and 14-9 overall.

The Hornets were not able to get much going in doubles and got swept 3-0 by the Broncos.

Senior Roy Brandys and senior Tom Miller played as the No.1 doubles pairing and lost 6-1. Miller and Brandys ended the regular season with a 5-5 record on the year as a doubles pairing.

Junior Sean Kolar and freshman Christopher Clayton were the No. 2 doubles pairing in the match, which was the first time they have competed together this season. Clayton and Kolar lost 6-3 to Mikheil Khmiadashvili and Ashot Khacharyan.

Sophomore Ayman Abdulwahab and junior Joaquin Marquez were the final doubles pairing and competed together for the third time this season. They lost 6-3 and ended the regular season 0-3 as a doubles pairing.

In singles, the Hornets were more competitive but were not able to pick up crucial wins in spots they needed.

Brandys and junior Niranjan Ram competed as the No. 1 and No. 2 singles players for the Hornets respectively, and neither were able to come away with a win. Brandys lost to Ilya Osintsev in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. Ram, who last played on April 4, also lost in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.

Marquez continued his fantastic run in singles and pulled out another third set tiebreak win for his 10th victory of the season. Marquez has won six singles matches in a row.

Miller also finished the season on a high note and picked up the win in straight sets as the No. 4 singles player. Miller finished the regular season with four victories in his last five matches and 10 wins overall.

Clayton also finished the season with an above .500 record as he won his match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. Clayton has a 7-4 record in his first season with the Hornets.

Sac State will play next at the Big Sky Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Friday, April 24 at Gold River Racquet Club.