SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A familiar name sits atop the preseason Big Sky Conference women's tennis coaches poll as Sacramento State was a unanimous choice to "three-peat" as league champion in 2026.
The Hornets received 64 points overall and eight of the nine first-place votes from the conference's head coaches — who could not vote for their own teams. Sacramento State finished ahead of Northern Arizona, which was second with 56 points, and Idaho, which received 50 points, to round out the top three.
Having won each of the last two Big Sky Conference Tournament titles — and the ensuing NCAA Tournaments berths that went along with them — as well as the 2024 league regular season title, the Hornets finished 21-4 overall and 7-1 in Big Sky play in 2025, clinching the crown with back-to-back 4-0 victories over the Vandals and the regular season champion Lumberjacks following a first-round bye.
Sacramento State earned the No. 3 seed for a four-team regional in Seattle, Wash., before falling to No. 19-ranked California in the opening round of postseason play. It was the program's 15th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance.
The 21 victories last season were the most by a Hornet squad since 2008 (21-7 overall) and, coupled with the 20 wins in 2024, gave the program back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 2004 (23-4) and 2005 (23-5).
As the spring season approaches, Sacramento State returns six letter winners off of last season's squad led by All-Big Sky first-team singles selection and reigning tournament Most Valuable Player Reese Walker, who finished 17-5 overall in singles and 12-3 in doubles a season ago as a sophomore.
Four other Hornets also picked up postseason honors from the league in 2025: senior Palina Saulevich was an honorable mention choice in doubles, junior Lou Baudouin was a second-team honoree in both singles in doubles, classmate Elena Mercioiu was named to the honorable mention singles squad, and sophomore Emilija Pranyte was a second-team doubles selection.
In addition, junior Irene Riva rebounded from missing the first part of the season due to injury to finish 13-1 in singles and 6-1 in league play, winning her last three singles contests.
That group is bolstered by a recruiting class that was ranked No. 18 among mid-major programs in the nation according to the Tennis Recruiting Network prior to the fall.
Freshman Lisann Brinkmann joins the Hornets as one of the top juniors in Germany, ranking as high as No. 109 in the German women's division and ranked No. 21 in the Under-18 division at the time of her signing. Mexico's Cami Maldonado Gutierrez was ranked as one of the country's top 10 juniors while Isabella Temenugov, who was born in the Czech Republic, was the No. 32-ranked junior in Southern California and ranked as high as No. 24 in the Czech Republic at the time of her commitment.
Sacramento State opens the 2026 spring season on the road next week, heading to Honolulu, Hawai'i, to take on Hawai'i Pacific on Tuesday (Jan. 20) and Hawai'i in back-to-back matches on Jan. 22 and Jan. 23. The Hornets open their home schedule on Jan. 31 against Saint Mary's at the Sacramento State Tennis Complex on campus.
The Hornets will be the host school for the Big Sky Women's Tennis Championship on April 23-25 in Phoenix, Ariz.
2026 BIG SKY CONFERENCE PRESEASON WOMEN'S TENNIS COACHES POLL
1. Sacramento State (8 first-place votes) - 64 points
2. Northern Arizona (1) - 56
3. Idaho - 50
4. Montana State - 39
5. Idaho State - 35
6. Montana - 26
7. Portland State - 24
8. Eastern Washington - 19
9. Weber State - 11
