SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The No. 75-ranked Sacramento State women's tennis team will begin its NCAA Tournament run with a trip to Seattle, Wash., selected as the No. 3 seed in the region and opening against a familiar foe in second-seeded California on Friday (May 2) at the Bill Quillian Tennis Stadium.
The Hornets and Golden Bears, who met in last year's first round NCAA Tournament match-up in Berkeley, Calif., will be joined by host and No. 16 national seed Washington and No. 4-seeded Stetson in the two-day four-team regional, with the winners advancing to Saturday's second round.
Sacramento State is making its 15th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, entering the postseason with a 21-3 overall record and a Big Sky Conference Tournament championship for the second consecutive season. The tournament title was the 13th in school history — the most of any women's program in the history of the Big Sky.
The Hornets finished 7-1 in league play to earn the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament before rolling past No. 3-seeded Idaho and top-seeded Northern Arizona by identical 4-0 scored to claim the title.
This postseason marks the third time that Sacramento State will face-off against California in NCAA Tournament play after the then-No. 9 Golden Bears posted a first-round win in 2012 and added a win in last year's tournament opener.
It also marks only the second time that the Hornets will not open their NCAA Tournament run against the host school as the Huskies will face the Hatters on Friday. The only other time came in 2004 when they met Fresno State in Berkeley, suffering a narrow 4-3 loss to the Bulldogs.
Riding a six-match winning streak — and having won 14 of its last 15 — into the postseason, the 21 victories for Sacramento State are the most wins in a single-season since the 2008 squad finished 21-7 overall and, coupled with the 20 wins from 2024, gave the Hornets back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 2004 (23-4) and 2005 (23-5).
Sacramento State has been dominant all season, posting a 98-27 (.784) overall record in singles play and a 40-18 (.690) mark in doubles, while rolling up 12 shutouts in their 21 victories. The 12 shutouts are the most since the 2005 squad finished with 14.
Individually, six Hornets earned All-Big Sky honors following the regular season as senior
Maddy Ferreros and Big Sky Tournament MVP
Reese Walker were first-team selections in singles, sophomore
Lou Baudouin was a second-team honoree, and sophomore
Elena Mercioiu were named to the honorable mention squad.
In doubles, Baudouin and
Emilija Pranyte were selected to the second team while Walker and
Palina Saulevich were honorable mention choices.
California enters the postseason ranked No. 21 in the latest ITA poll, finishing with a 13-8 overall record and a 9-3 mark in ACC play. The Golden Bears reached the quarterfinals of the conference tournament, posting a win over Louisville, 4-1, before falling to Virginia, 4-0. California features four individuals ranked in the latest national polls: No. 31 Mao Mushika (18-12), No. 47 Lan Mi (23-7), No. 56 Jessica Alsola (18-11), and No. 75 Katja Wiersholm (9-5). Mushika and Alsola, who were named to the All-ACC team in both singles and doubles, also make up the No. 4 doubles team in the nation with a 13-4 record together.
Host Washington finished 20-4 overall during the regular season and ended the year 11-2 in Big Ten play, reaching the semifinals of the conference tournament before falling to Ohio State. Ranked No. 18 in the country in the latest ITA poll, the Huskies are led by junior Reece Carter, who is 12-6 in duals while splitting time between No. 1 and No. 2 this season and ranked No. 113 in the nation, while freshman Carina Syrtveit has won a team-high 17 matches.
Stetson is ranked No. 74 in the nation according to the latest ITA poll, posting an 18-4 overall record and an 8-1 mark in ASUN play, claiming back-to-back conference tournament championships with a win over North Alabama. Senior Cheri Darley is 16-1 overall in singles — with 13 of those wins coming at the No. 1 spot in the lineup — while senior Alanna DiFrancesco shares the team lead with 16 singles wins, including a 14-3 mark at the No. 3 spot. In doubles, Darley and DiFrancesco are 13-7 together, including 11-7 at No. 1, while Anastasija Adeikyte and Katsiaryna Tuliakova are a team-best 13-2.
Sacramento State and California have met 15 times in the Hornets' Division I history — 13 of those against a nationally ranked Golden Bears squad, which has never lost to Sacramento State. The Hornets are 4-12 all-time against Washington, but the two programs haven't met since 2015, while Sacramento State and Stetson have never met in women's tennis.
