PHOENIX -- Sacramento State won the doubles point and received singles wins from
Mark Keki,
Mate Voros and
Jan Silva on the way to a 4-2 victory over Idaho State in the semifinal round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament Friday morning.
The victory moves the Hornets (16-6) to tomorrow morning's Big Sky championship match vs. Northern Arizona at 8 a.m. PT. The winner receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Northern Arizona (No. 1 seed) and Sacramento State (No. 2 seed) were co-Big Sky regular season champions, and the Hornets are seeking their first Big Sky Tourney title and NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013.
By virtue of the No. 2 seed, Sacramento State received a bye in the quarterfinals. Idaho State (14-10) defeated Montana, 4-0, in the quarters yesterday.
The Hornets will head into tomorrow's Big Sky title match having won 11 of their last 13 matches. One of those losses during that run was a 4-3 grinder to Northern Arizona in Sacramento on March 15.
In today's matchup, the Hornets began by winning the doubles point. Both Keki/Voros (No. 1) and Silva/
Adam Chodur (No. 3) won their matches to clinch the point.
After Idaho State tied the score at 1-1 with a win at No. 6 singles, Keki gave the Hornets the lead with his 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 1. That was followed closely by a 6-1, 6-3 victory by Silva at No. 3, and after an ISU win at No. 5, the match clincher from Voros at No. 2 by a 6-4, 6-4 score.
The winner of tomorrow's match will begin play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (May 3-4). The tournament selection show is Monday at 3 p.m.