AUSTIN, Texas -- Sacramento State's magical season came to a close in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in a 4-0 loss to third-ranked Texas on Friday afternoon.
The match, originally scheduled to play outdoors, was moved indoors due to inclement weather in the Austin area. Texas is the tournament's No. 2 overall seed and one of the favorites to win the NCAA Tournament.
Sacramento State was making its first NCAA Tourney appearance in 11 years after winning both the Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament titles. The Hornets were selected to play a Texas team that won the Big 12 Conference championship and has now won 14 consecutive matches.
The Hornets finish 17-7 overall (most wins since 2013). The team won nine of its final 11 matches of the season, including victories last week in the Big Sky Tournament over Idaho State (4-2) and Northern Arizona (4-1). Senior
Mark Keki was named the Big Sky MVP, and fellow senior
Mate Voros was named the Big Sky Tournament MVP.
The highlight of today's match came from Keki/Voros in doubles play. The Hornets' No. 1 tandem quickly defeated the 26th-ranked doubles team in the nation (Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab) by a 6-1 score.
At one point during doubles play, the Hornets had 3-0 leads at two different courts, but the Longhorns were able to win at Nos. 2 and 3 to claim the point. At No. 2,
Hayden Rand/
Jiri Novak fell by a 6-4 score, while
Jan Silva/
Adam Chodur lost at No. 3 (6-2).
Texas (23-3) has four nationally ranked players in its singles lineup, including two ranked in the top five. Sacramento State's top four players in its singles lineup squared off with a nationally ranked opponent. Keki, at No. 1, played close with the country's second ranked player (Spizzirri) before eventually falling, 6-4, 6-4.
Voros played the nation's fifth ranked player (Micah Braswell) and fell, 6-0, 6-2. Texas also won at No. 6 where
Rudolfs Aksenoks lost by a 6-2, 6-1 score. Matches were not finished at Nos. 3, 4 and 5. At No. 4, Chodur was hanging with the nation's 90th ranked player before his match was stopped at 5-7, 1-1.
"Mikus (Losbergs) and I are incredibly proud of this team," Sacramento State head coach
Kevin Kurtz said. "The six seniors were amazing, and this team truly is a family. The players worked so hard all year, and achieved their ultimate goal of winning a Big Sky championship. It was just a great year for Sacramento State Tennis, and one that will never be forgotten."
Despite the loss, the Hornets capped an incredible season that included the following:
• First Big Sky regular season championship since 2013
• First Big Sky Tournament title since 2013
• First trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2013
• Conference winning percentage (7-1, .875) best since 2013
• 17 wins are most since 2013
• Overall winning percentage (17-7, .708) best since 2009
• 7-match winning streak (3/17-4/14) - longest since 2010
• 8 straight wins over Big Sky opponents - longest since 2011
• 4-match road winning streak - longest since 2013
• Keki becomes first Hornet named Big Sky MVP since 2013
•
Kevin Kurtz becomes first Hornet Big Sky Coach of the Year since 2011
• Program-record six Hornets named all-Big Sky
• Program-record tying three first team all-Big Sky selections
• Keki finished 17-3 in dual singles play - most wins since Marek Marksoo (17) in 2012
• Keki's singles winning percentage (17-3, .850) is the best since Marek Marksoo had the same record in 2012
• Chodur went 16-3 in singles play. Besides Keki, no Hornet had won that many singles matches since current assistant coach
Mikus Losbergs went 16-8 in 2017
