Former Sacramento State standout student-athlete Sophie Breault (née Lohscheidt) was named the head coach for the Hornet women’s tennis program in January of 2022 and has restored her alma mater to its former glory in a short amount of time.
Entering her sixth season at the helm in 2026-27, Breault took over the program in the middle of the 2021-22 school year, inheriting a team that had won just one dual match the previous spring and has improved Sacramento State’s standing in every season at the helm.
Breault and the Hornets won five duals in the spring of 2022 — three of those in Big Sky Conference play — and advanced Sacramento State to a semifinal appearance with a win over Portland State before falling to Weber State in the semifinals.
A year later, Breault guided the Hornets to an 11-11 overall record and a 4-4 mark in conference play in the spring of 2023, posting the first double-digit win season for the program since it finished with the same number of wins in 2018. Sacramento State advanced to the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament for the second consecutive season with a win over Idaho State before falling to Northern Arizona.
In 2024, Breault completed the Hornets’ ascension to the top of the Big Sky, finishing the year with a 20-8 overall record and a 6-2 mark in conference play, winning a share of the league’s regular season title — the 10th in school history — and the program’s 12th tournament title which, at the time, was the most in the history of the Big Sky.
As a result, Sacramento State advanced to its 14th NCAA Tournament — and its first since 2014 — facing No. 10 California in the first round.
All told, the 20 wins were the most for a Hornet squad since they finished 21-7 overall in 2008, and are tied for the fourth-most in a single season in the program's Division I history.
In 2025, the Hornets won 20-or-more matches for the second consecutive season, finishing with a 21-4 overall record and a 7-1 mark in Big Sky play. The 21 wins were the most since the team finished 21-8 in 2008 and marked the first time that Sacramento State posted back-to-back 20-win seasons since the 2004 (23-4) and 2005 (23-5) seasons. The Hornets went on to claim their second consecutive Big Sky Tournament title and 15th NCAA Tournament berth, making a return trip to Berkeley, Calif., to take on No. 19 California for the second consecutive year.
Breault then capped off Sacramento State's final season in the Big Sky Conference with another regular season and tournament crown, finishing 19-6 overall and 7-1 in league play before posting wins over Idaho and Northern Arizona to earn the program's 16th NCAA Tournament berth at No. 13 USC.
Under her tutelage, Sacramento State student-athletes have gone on to collect a total of 18 All-Big Sky honors -- eight of those in singles and 10 of those in doubles -- and the team has earned 16 Big Sky Player of the Week awards. In addition, the Hornets claimed each of the first three Big Sky Tournament MVP awards since its inception in 2024 as Mayya Gorbunova won the inaugural honor followed by back-to-back awards by Reese Walker.
In addition, prior to the 2023 season, the Hornets' recruiting class was named one of the nation's top mid-major classes according to TennisRecruiting.net, coming in at No. 16 on the list -- the first time that Sacramento State made the organization's top 25 list.
Academically, her squads have been named ITA All-Academic Teams in each of her five years at the helm individuals have combined for 33 individual honors from the organization, while also picking up a total of 28 Big Sky All-Academic awards.
Originally from Landsberg, Germany, Breault was a four-year letter winner for the Hornets from 2011-14, earning numerous conference honors over the course of her four-year career in the green and gold.
As a senior, she earned her first career All-Big Sky first team selection was named the league’s player of the week twice that same year. Previously, she was a second-team selection as a freshman in 2011. Combined, she finished 25-4 in singles and 28-5 in doubles against conference opponents in her four years.
Equally as successful in the classroom as she was on the court, Breault was a four-time Big Sky All-Academic Team selection and a four-time ITA Scholar-Athlete, earning honors all four years of her Hornet career. She capped her career as a student-athlete by earning Sacramento State’s 2014 Big Sky Scholar-Athlete award, completing her degree in international business with a 3.88 overall GPA.
