PHOENIX, Ariz. -- For the third time in as many seasons and officially the 14th time overall in the history of the program, the Sacramento State women's tennis team is Big Sky Conference Tournament champions, completing the "three-peat" with a hard-fought 4-1 victory over No. 2 seeded Northern Arizona on Saturday morning at the Phoenix Tennis Center in Phoenix, Ariz.
With their seventh consecutive victory, the Hornets improved to 19-5 overall and laid claim to the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Sacramento State finds out its first-round postseason opponent during the NCAA Selection Show on Monday (April 27) at 1:30 p.m. PT that will be streamed live at NCAA.com.
First-round matches at on-campus host sites begin on Friday (May 1) or Saturday (May 2). Georgia is the defending national champion.
Having already claimed the conference's regular season title for the second time in three seasons — and officially 11 times overall — with a win over Portland State back on April 21, the Hornets were the favorite entering this week's event, facing a Lumberjack squad playing near their home campus in Flagstaff, Ariz.
Just as it had in the previous 11 duals, Sacramento State jumped out to the early lead by claiming the doubles point to go up 1-0 in the match.
The tandem of Cami Maldonado Gutierrez and Reese Walker were the first off with a 6-0 shutout victory at the No. 3 spot before Lou Baudouin and Emilija Pranyte locked down the point with a 6-3 victory at the No. 2 position.
Singles was then a dogfight between the two top-seeded teams as senior Palina Saulevich was the first off with a, 6-0, 6-1, win over Mia Wolter at No. 6, and Pranyte gutted out a 7-5 win in her opening set against Leotina Stojanovic before taking the second with ease, 6-1.
The Lumberjacks collected their only point of the day with a straight-set victory at the No. 3 position to make it 3-1 before both teams settled in for a trio of matches that would eventually trickle over into three sets.
Both Walker and Baudouin each won their respective first sets, but NAU answered with identical 6-4 wins in the second sets of each match to even things up. In a race to see who would finish first, Walker took a 5-3 lead while Baudouin was up 5-2 in the third set of her contest, but it would be Tournament MVP Walker who closed out Patrycja Niewiadomska for a, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, victory to set off the team celebration on court one.
Walker became the first two-time winner of the league tournament's MVP award, joining Mayya Gorbanova, who won the inaugural honor back in 2024.
BIG SKY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP
#1 Sacramento State 4, #2 Northern Arizona 1
April 25, 2026 // Phoenix, Ariz. (Phoenix Tennis Center)
DOUBLES
1. Palina Saulevich / Irene Riva (SAC) vs. Natalie Rainke / Elen Jantacova (NAU), 5-5 unfinished
2. Lou Baudouin / Emilija Pranyte (SAC) def. Patrycja Niewiadomska / Andrea Noguera (NAU), 6-3
3. Cami Maldonado Gutierrez / Reese Walker (SAC) def. Leontina Stojanovic / Mia Wolter (NAU), 6-0
Order of finish: 3, 2*
SINGLES
1. Reese Walker (SAC) def. Patrycja Niewiadomska (NAU), 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
2. Lou Baudouin (SAC) vs. Andrea Noguera (NAU), 7-5, 4-6, 5-2 unfinished
3. Natalie Rainke (NAU) def. Irene Riva (SAC), 6-4, 6-1
4. Cami Maldonado Gutierrez (SAC) vs. Elen Jantacova (NAU), 5-7, 6-4, 1-3 unfinished
5. Emilija Pranyte (SAC) def. Leontina Stojanovic (NAU), 7-5, 6-1
6. Palina Saulevich (SAC) def. Mia Wolter (NAU), 6-0, 6-1
Order of finish: 6, 5, 3, 1*
