PHOENIX -- Needing to win the final two singles matches of the day to advance, it came down to the two seniors for the Sacramento State women's tennis team and they did not disappoint.

Senior Mayya Gorbunova rebounded from a first-set loss to win in three sets at the No. 1 position to tie the dual and classmate Best Lee rallied back from down 4-2 in the third to claim the next three games at No. 6 to clinch the contest, lifting the third-seeded Hornets to a 4-3 victory over sixth-seeded Northern Arizona in the first round of the 2024 Big Sky Conference Championships at the Phoenix Tennis Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on Thursday morning.

Sacramento State, which fell to the Lumberjacks in last year's semifinals, improved to 18-7 overall on the year and faces second-seeded Montana in the semifinals on Friday (April 26) at 8 a.m. It marks the third consecutive season that the Hornets have gained the semifinal round at the league's postseason tournament and the first time facing the Lady Griz since 2014.

In the head-to-head meeting between the two during the regular season, Montana defeated Sacramento State, 5-2, in Missoula back on April 5.

With the Hornets trailing 3-2 in the match overall, Gorbunova came back strong in her second set against Patrycja Niewiadomska after falling in a hotly contested tiebreaker in the first. Gorbunova won the first five games in the second before closing it out with a 6-2 win and then never trailed in the third, winning the final two games after Niewiadomska came back from down 4-2 to tie the set at four apiece.

That sent all eyes to the match at No. 6 where Lee lost the opening set to Andrea Noguera before winning the second, 7-5. She won four of the first five games in the second then held off a furious charge by Noguera, who fought back to tie it up at four-all. The two split the next two games before Lee powered through with the final two.

In the third, Noguera jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead and then answered Lee's wins in the next two games to take a 4-2 advantage. That would be her last lead of the afternoon as the Sacramento State senior took the final four games for a 6-4 victory and clinch the match.

The Hornets opened the day on a high note with a doubles point victory as Gorbunova and Lou Baudouin won at No. 3, 6-1, then clinched the point with a win at No. 1 by Lee and Weronika Ejsmont, 6-3.

Northern Arizona picked up a point at No. 2 singles to even the match before freshman Irene Riva answered with a straight-set victory at the No. 5 spot to regain the lead, defeating Ava Neyestani, 6-3, 6-4, in the only straight-set contest of the day.

The Lumberjacks tied the match at two with a win at No. 3 and put the Hornets' collective backs against the wall with a three-set win at No. 4, setting the stage for the thrilling finish.

NCAA WOMEN'S TENNIS
#3 Sacramento State 4, #6 Northern Arizona 3
April 25, 2024 // Phoenix, Ariz. (Phoenix Tennis Center)

DOUBLES
1. Weronika Ejsmont / Best Lee (SAC) def. Daryna Shoshyna / Dolavee Tumthong (NAU), 6-3
2. Patrycja Niewiadomska / Andrea Noguera (NAU) def. Maddy Ferreros / Irene Riva (SAC), 6-4
3. Lou Baudouin / Mayya Gorbunova (SAC) def. Ana Karen Guadiana / Ava Neyestani (NAU), 6-1

SINGLES
1. Mayya Gorbunova (SAC) def. Patrycja Niewiadomska (NAU), 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4
2. Ana Karen Guadiana (NAU) def. Lou Baudouin (SAC), 4-2 ret.
3. Dolavee Tumthong (NAU) def. Maddy Ferreros (SAC), 0-6, 6-2, 6-1
4. Daryna Shoshyna (NAU) def. Elena Mercioiu (SAC), 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
5. Irene Riva (SAC) def. Ava Neyestani (NAU), 6-3, 6-4
6. Best Lee (SAC) def. Andrea Noguera (NAU), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4