SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As the Sacramento State women's tennis team sunsets its time in the Big Sky Conference, the Hornets look to go out with a bang this week in Phoenix, Ariz., as they play host to the 2026 Big Sky Championships at the Phoenix Tennis Center.
Having already clinched the league's regular season title outright thanks to its win over Portland State in the regular season finale on Saturday, Sacramento State heads to the "Valley of the Sun" as winners of the last two Big Sky tournament crowns, entering this year's event as the tournament's top seed.
As the top seed, the Hornets have Thursday (April 23) off and will face the winner of the opening-round match between No. 4 Eastern Washington and No. 5 Idaho on Friday (April 24) at 8 a.m. PT. A win advances Sacramento State to Saturday's (April 25) championship match at 8 a.m. PT.
Northern Arizona is the No. 2 seed and will face either No. 3 Idaho State or No. 6 Montana State in Thursday's other semifinal.
Since winning their first in 20024, the Hornets have officially laid claim to at least a share of the conference's regular season crown 11 times and will go for their 14th overall Big Sky title this year in Arizona. Saturday's victory over Portland State marked the program's first outright regular season championship for the first time since it finished 8-0 in 2012.
The Hornets enter the postseason on a roll, winning their last five straight to close out the year while sporting a 17-5 overall record and a 7-1 mark in league play. Sacramento State improved to 9-0 at home following the match against the Vikings, extending the program's home winning streak to 18 consecutive triumphs dating back to last year.
Individually, three Hornets finished with 16 singles wins on the year: redshirt junior Lou Baudouin, senior Palina Saulevich, and freshman Cami Maldonado Gutierrez, with Baudouin leading the way with a 16-3 overall record — mostly coming at the No. 2 position where she was 10-3 on the year. Meanwhile, Baudouin and junior Irene Riva finished the regular season with 7-1 marks in Big Sky play.
In doubles play, the duo of Maldonado Gutierrez and Reese Walker finished 12-1 and have won their last seven straight matches at the No. 3 spot, while the tandem of Lou Baudouin and Emilija Pranyte ended the regular season with a 10-3 record — mostly at the No. 2 spot in the lineup.
