SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The reigning Big Sky Conference champion Sacramento State women's tennis team begins its run in the 2026 NCAA Tournament in Los Angeles this weekend, matched up with No. 13 national seed and No. 12-ranked USC in the first round on Friday (May 1) at 2 p.m. at Marks Tennis Stadium on campus.
The Hornets are making their 16th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance, entering this year's postseason with a 19-5 overall record their second Big Sky regular season title in the last three years and their third straight conference tournament title.
Sacramento State finished 7-1 in league play during the regular season, earning the tournament's top seed and defeating No. 5 seeded Idaho (4-0) and No. 2-seeded Northern Arizona (4-1) en route to the trophy.
With the addition of this year's titles, the Hornets have now officially won 11 Big Sky regular season crowns and 14 conference tournament titles — the most of any other school in league history for both. The 2026 season is the Hornets' last in the Big Sky as they will compete in the Big West Conference beginning with the 2026-27 school year.
This season marks the fourth all-time meeting between Sacramento State and the Women of Troy in the NCAA Tournament with USC posting wins in 2003, 2010, and 2013. It is the 14th time in the program's 16 trips to the NCAA's that it will face the host school in the first round.
Utah (15-9 overall) and Bay Area rival California (12-7) are the other two schools in the Hornets' four-team pod in Los Angeles. The winner of Friday's first-round matches meet in the second round on Saturday (May 2) at 2 p.m.
Riding a seven-match winning streak — and having won 13 of their last 14 — heading into the postseason, the Hornets have won at least 19 matches for the third consecutive year. USC is the fourth nationally ranked opponent for Sacramento State this season, having faced No. 11 Stanford (L, 4-3), No. 22 San Diego State (L, 5-2), and No. 52 Long Beach State (W, 4-3).
The Hornets themselves spent seven weeks among the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's national polls, reaching as high as No. 50 in the nation in late February.
Sacramento State finished a combined 89-43 (.674) in singles play and 44-18 (.710) in doubles, while losing back-to-back matches only once this season. The Hornets have jumped out to an early lead by claiming the doubles point in each of their last 14 contests.
Head Coach Sophie Breault was named the Big Sky Coach of the Year for the first time in her career, while newcomer Cami Maldonado Gutierrez became the first Hornet to win the league's freshman of the year award, headlining a list of six players named to the Big Sky postseason honor roll.
A total of four Sacramento State players were named to the honor roll in singles as redshirt junior Lou Baudouin was a unanimous first-team selection and was joined on the list by junior Irene Riva. Maldonado Gutierrez was named to the second team in singles while senior Palina Saulevich was an honorable mention choice.
In doubles, the tandem of Riva and Saulevich were unanimous selections to the first team, while the pairings of Maldonado Gutierrez and Reese Walker along with Baudouin and Emilija Pranyte were both honorable mention selections.
Walker became the first two-time winner of the league tournament's MVP award last Saturday, joining Mayya Gorbanova, who won the inaugural honor back in 2024.
USC enters the postseason with a 19-6 overall record and a 12-1 mark in the Big Ten, falling to seventh-seeded Maryland in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. Prior to that loss, the Women of Troy had won seven straight duals after suffering their only conference loss at the hands of Michigan on the road on March 22 by a 4-3 score. Jana Hossam is ranked No. 23 in the nation, sporting a 22-12 overall record and a 8-8 mark at the No. 1 spot in the USC lineup. She is joined by No. 67 Emma Charney and No. 118 Eugenia Zozaya in the national singles rankings. In doubles, the duo of Lily Fairclough and Krisha Mahendran are ranked No. 29 in the nation, with an 8-5 mark at the No. 1 spot.
Utah enters the tournament with a 15-9 overall record and an 8-5 mark in Big 12 play, falling to ninth-ranked BYU in the opening round of the conference tournament, 4-2. The Utes, who have lost four straight entering the NCAA's, are led by junior Emma Kamper in singles, who posted a 16-3 record at the top spot in the Utah lineup and is ranked No. 105 in the nation. In doubles, the tandem of Kamper and Emma Valletta were 7-4 at the No. 1 position.
California takes a 12-7 record and an 8-4 mark in ACC play into the postseason after defeating Florida State, 4-2, and falling to NC State, 4-0, in the conference tournament. The Golden Bears have four singles players among the top 125 in the nation, led by Berta Passola Folch, who is ranked No. 22 in the country and sports a 28-8 overall record — including a 10-4 mark in dual matches, mostly at the No. 2 spot. No. 35 Johanne Svendsen is No. 35 in the nation, posting an 8-2 mark at the No. 1 spot in the singles lineup. In doubles, the tandem of Svendsen and Mao Mushika are ranked No. 62 in the nation with a 7-3 record at the No. 1 position.
All-time, Sacramento State is 0-4 against USC, adding a loss to the Women of Troy in 2012 to the three meetings in the NCAA Tournament. The Hornets and the Utes have met only once with Sacramento State posting a 5-2 win at home in 2003, while California has won all 16 meetings with Sacramento State — three of those (including each of the last two years) coming in the NCAA Tournament.
