The Sacramento State women’s tennis team are the Big Sky Conference Tournament champions, clinching a spot in the NCAA Tournament, after defeating the Weber State Wildcats 4-2 on Saturday.
This is Sac State’s first Big Sky Tournament championship since winning 11 consecutive titles between 2002-2012. The Hornets’ 12 championships are the most in Big Sky history.
On their path to the championship, the Hornets pulled out a 4-3 nail-biter over Northern Arizona on Thursday and recorded a dominant 4-1 win against Montana on Friday.
“I’m proud of how they competed and how they showed up,” Sac State head coach Sophie Breault said. “They fought for their dream and made it happen.”
In just her third year as the head coach, Breault has brought the Hornets back to their championship level.
“They all wanted it for each other and they all fight for each other,” Breault said. “We pulled through so many tough moments, because these girls are all there for each other.”
Senior Mayya Gorbunova said she wanted to win it all in her senior year and she did just that, delivering the championship clinching point off of her racket.
“I still can’t believe it,” Gorbunova said. “I was dreaming about that moment.”
In the last meeting between these two teams, the Wildcats claimed the doubles point and jumped out to an early lead. This time, it was the Hornets who got on the board first.
After both sides won a doubles match, the pressure was on Sac State’s duo of Gorbunova and redshirt freshman Lou Baudouin.
It was tied at four, until the Hornets took back-to-back games to take a 1-0 lead in the dual.
Freshman Irene Riva carried this momentum into singles with back-to-back 6-2 set wins. This was Riva’s 20th singles win of her rookie campaign, making her the first Hornet to accomplish this since 2011.
“At first I was really worried how it would go but I started putting my mind towards winning points and everything came together,” Riva said.
Senior Best Lee followed suit, bouncing back from her doubles loss and putting Sac State up 3-0 to continue her strong singles showing in the tournament.
“Being that this was my last chance at Sac State, I wanted to try to do my best,” Lee said.
Weber State’s freshman Sydney Schnell and graduate student Ana Morett responded with singles wins of their own, but the Hornets were in position to win after Gorbunova’s set one victory.
“I trust Mayya so much, so when she was playing, I knew that she would win,” Riva said. “I was just waiting for that moment and it was amazing.”
Gorbunova trailed 4-1, but fought back, winning five straight games to clinch the championship for the Hornets, ending her final season at Sac State in storybook fashion.
“I was so proud of everyone, I literally started crying, because all the hard work paid off finally,” Gorbunova said. “That satisfaction of finally taking the trophy home is the greatest feeling of my life.”
Sac State will find out who and where they are playing in the NCAA Tournament during the selection show on Monday at 3:30 p.m. The first round will take place from May 3-4.
