Hornets' nest: Sac State put on three years' probation

   The NCAA has placed the Sacramento State men's and women's tennis programs on three years' probation and imposed other sanctions for numerous violations over a five-year period.
    "Many of the violations, and the most serious, resulted from the misconduct of a former director of women's and men's tennis programs," the NCAA said recently in a news release. "The former director took advantage of a permissive compliance environment and engaged in intentional conduct that violated a broad range of NCAA rules, including recruiting, eligibility, financial aid, benefits, coaching staff limitations and ethical conduct.
   "After the university did not renew the scholarships of two women's student-athletes, the former director provided or arranged for a booster to provide tuition for them. The former director routinely provided student-athletes and prospects impermissible housing arrangements, free tennis instruction and facility use at a local tennis club he owned and where the tennis program conducted most of its activity. ... "
   The violations occurred during the tenures of tennis director Bill Campbell, women's head coach Dima Hrynashka and men's head coach Slava Konikov. All have left Sac State.
   Hrynashka and Konikov hail from Belarus. Konikov now coaches former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, as he did when she was a child in Belarus.
   The tennis club mentioned in the NCAA release is Rio del Oro.
   Seniors Alina Soltanici of Moldova and Deimante Bulatovaite of Lithuania sat out the 2017 regular season because of the NCAA investigation, Sac State spokesman Andrew Tomsky said last April. Soltanici played No. 1 singles for the Hornets in 2016, and Bulatovaite played primarily No. 3 or 4.
   Hrynashka went 168-96 (.636) overall and 85-4 (.955) in the Big Sky in 10 seasons at Sac State and was named the Big Sky Conference Women's Coach of the Year five times (2008-11 and 2013).
   The Hornets women won 13 consecutive Big Sky tournament titles from 2002 to 2014 and lost in the first round of the NCAAs each time. They won one point total in their last five NCAA appearances. 
   Konikov guided the Hornets to six Big Sky tournament titles in his 12-plus years at Sac State, each resulting in an automatic NCAA Tournament berth and first-round loss.

Sac State's Konikov resigns to coach Azarenka

  Victoria Azarenka is going back to her roots.
  Longtime Sacramento State men's coach Slava Konikov, Azarenka's childhood coach in Belarus, announced his resignation Friday to coach the former world No. 1. Hornets assistant coach Kevin Kurtz will replace Konikov.
   Konikov, who spent 12-plus years as Sac State's coach, guided the Hornets to six Big Sky Conference Tournament titles, each resulting in an automatic NCAA Tournament berth and first-round loss.
   Azarenka has been embroiled in a custody dispute involving her son, Leo, who was born in December 2016. The two-time Australian Open champion has not played in a tournament since reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon last July, dropping her ranking to No. 209.

Sac State's Losbergs sweeps Invitational titles

Sacramento State's Mikus Losbergs, a junior from Latvia, swept the singles
and doubles titles in the Pacific Men's Tennis Invitational. Photo courtesy
of Sacramento State

   Sacramento State's Mikus Losbergs swept the singles and doubles titles in the recent Pacific Men's Tennis Invitational in Stockton.
   Losbergs, seeded second in singles, outlasted sixth-seeded Tadiwa Chinamo of Pacific 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4 in the final. In the doubles final, top-seeded Losbergs and Kasparas Zemaitelis defeated Connor Garnett and Kamran Khan 8-3.
   "This tournament was the best tennis I have ever seen Mikus play," Sac State assistant coach Kevin Kurtz said of the junior from Latvia on hornetsports.com. "He's always been a great player, but he was in a zone during the entire tournament. I don't think you could play a better weekend of tennis, and for him to win three matches on the final day was extremely impressive and showed a lot of heart."
   The nine-team field also included Fresno State, Saint Mary's, Cal Poly and UC Davis.
   Sac State ended its fall season in the tournament. The Hornets will open their spring season on Jan. 19 at Saint Mary's. Sac State's home opener is scheduled for Jan. 21 against Cal Poly. All home matches will be played on campus.

Sac State women held out of relocated tourney

The Sacramento State women's team poses after winning the 2012 Big Sky
Conference tournament at the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento
area. Coach Dima Hrynashka is at front left, and Clarisse Baca is standing
third from right. Baca replaced the highly successful Hrynashka last October
under mysterious circumstances. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The Sacramento State saga continues.

   In the latest blows to Sacramento-area tennis, the Hornets women have been held out of the Big Sky Conference Championships, and the men's and women's tournaments have been moved from the Gold River Racquet Club to Phoenix.
   The Big Sky Championships, which had been played at Gold River every year since 2007 except in 2011, are scheduled for Thursday through Sunday at the Phoenix Tennis Center. The Hornets men are seeded third.

   Sac State spokesman Andrew Tomsky said today that the school and NCAA are investigating the Hornets women's program but would not elaborate.

   "We can't comment on it since it's ongoing," said Tomsky, an assistant media relations director who handles women's tennis and four other sports at Sac State.

   Tomsky added that he doesn't know when the investigation will end.

   NCAA spokewoman Emily James also declined to comment.

   "Due to member rules, we cannot comment on current, pending or potential investigations," James, an associate director of public and media relations for the Indianapolis-based NCAA, wrote in an email.
   Brad Wall, the Big Sky communications director for tennis, did not return a phone call this morning.
   Since February 2014, the Sacramento area has lost two World TeamTennis franchises, a $100,000 men's tournament on the USTA Pro Circuit, a legends tournament and the USTA 30-and-over Indoor Championships in addition to the Big Sky tourney. Tomsky said that to his knowledge, future sites for the latter have not been determined.
   One source said on the condition of anonymity the issue with the Sac State women's program concerns summer employment last year by current seniors Alina Soltanici of Moldova and Deimante Bulatovaite of Lithuania. Their status as international students could be a factor.

   Soltanici, who played No. 1 singles for Sac State in 2016, and Bulatovaite, who played primarily No. 3 or 4, sat out the regular season this year. When asked why, Tomsky said, "Due to the ongoing investigation." 

   On Oct. 6 last year at the beginning of the fall season, Sac State announced that Clarisse Baca had been named the acting women's coach. The former Hornets star replaced longtime coach Dima Hrynashka, a Belarus native whose name was not mentioned in the release.
   Bill Campbell, then Sac State's director of tennis, said on Oct. 25 that Hrynashka had taken a leave of absence for personal reasons.
   Campbell said Tuesday that he retired as director of tennis in "September or October."
   Campbell also declined to discuss possible NCAA infractions by Sac State.
   "I told (Sac State) I wouldn't answer any questions, so I'm not answering any questions," he said.
   Hrynashka's future at Sac State is unclear. He compiled records of 168-96 (.636) overall and 85-4 (.955) in the Big Sky in 10 seasons at the school and was named the conference Women's Coach of the Year five times (2008-11 and 2013).
   Sac State moved its women's home matches from the Rio del Oro Racquet Club in Sacramento to the campus this season. The men, however, continued to play at Rio del Oro. Campbell founded and owns a chain of nine fitness clubs, including Rio del Oro, in the Sacramento area.   

   The Sac State women finished fifth in the 12-team Big Sky at 7-4 this season (9-17 overall). Six teams qualify for the postseason tournament, and the winner receives an automatic berth in the NCAA Championships.

   The Hornets women won 13 consecutive Big Sky tournament titles from 2002 to 2014 and lost in the first round of the NCAAs each time. They won one point total in their last five appearances.

   Northern Arizona is seeded first in this year's tournament, and two-time defending champion Idaho is second. 

Baca named acting coach of Sac State women

The Sacramento State women's team poses after winning the 2012 Big Sky
Conference tournament at the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento
area. Coach Dima Hrynashka is at front left, and Clarisse Baca is standing
third from right. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Former Sacramento State star Clarisse Baca has been named the acting coach of the Hornets women.
   In each of Baca's four years as a player at Sac State (2009-12), the Hornets won the Big Sky Conference regular-season and tournament championship and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
   A native of Chihuahua, Mexico, Baca was named to the all-Big Sky first team three times after earning second-team honors as a freshman. She was the team captain for three years and helped Sac State earn a top-30 national ranking while playing No. 4 singles and No. 2 doubles.
   Baca went undefeated in Big Sky dual matches and was part of Sac State's 112-match unbeaten streak in league play spanning almost 13 years. She had coached juniors since graduating in 2012.
   Baca replaces Dima Hrynashka, who took a leave of absence for personal reasons, Sac State director of tennis Bill Campbell said today.
   Campbell added that Hrynashka, who was not available for comment, likely will miss the fall and spring seasons and then decide whether to return.
   Sac State's news release on Oct. 6 announcing the coaching change did not mention Hrynashka's name.
   Hrynashka, a Belarus native, has gone 168-96 (.636) overall and 85-4 (.955) in Big Sky play in 10 seasons as the Sac State women's coach.
   The Hornets won their 13th consecutive Big Sky tournament title in 2014 but lost in the final last year and in the semifinals in April.
   Hrynashka has won five Big Sky Coach of the Year awards (2008-11 and 2013).

Novikov doubles title, college tourneys, USTA 30 Indoors

Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay
Area won the doubles title in the Tallahassee (Fla.)
Challenger with Julio Peralta of Chile. 2015 photo
by Paul Bauman

   Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area and Julio Peralta of Chile on Saturday won the doubles title in the $50,000 Tallahassee (Fla.) Challenger for the second consecutive year.
   The top-seeded pair edged unseeded Peter Luczak, a former Fresno State star, and Marc Polmans of Australia 3-6, 6-4 [12-10] in the final on green clay.
   Novikov also won the Maui Challenger doubles crown in January with Jason Jung, a Los Angeles-area native who plays for Taiwan.
   Quentin Halys of France won the Tallahassee singles title in a battle of top teenage prospects. Halys, 19, defeated Frances Tiafoe, 18, of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-2.
   Halys and Tiafoe reached the semifinals of the Tiburon and Fairfield Challengers, respectively, in Northern California last October.
   In the Estoril (Portugal) Open doubles semifinals, fourth-seeded Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky, a former Stanford All-American, beat second-seeded Treat Huey, a Washington, D.C., native who plays for the Philippines, and Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-4, 7-5.
   Butorac, who played for the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis in 2008, and Lipsky will take on top-seeded Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski of Poland.
   Huey and Lipsky won the 2015 title.
   Colleges -- The No. 1-seeded Fresno State women beat No. 4 San Jose State 4-2 to reach the final of the Mountain West Conference Championships in Fort Collins, Colo. The Bulldogs, ranked 47th, will face UNLV, seeded third and ranked 72nd, for the title.
   The No. 8-seeded Fresno State men lost to No. 4 UNLV 4-2 in the Mountain West semifinals in Las Vegas.
   The Pepperdine women, seeded first and ranked eighth, pounded third-seeded Saint Mary's 4-0 in Claremont, Calif., to win their fourth straight title in the West Coast Conference Championships.
   The host Sacramento State men and women lost in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference Championships at the Gold River Racquet Club. The No. 5-seeded Hornets men fell to No. 1 Weber State 4-1, and the No. 2 Hornets women lost to No. 3 and defending champion Idaho 4-2.
   The Sac State women had reached the Big Sky final for 14 consecutive years, winning 13 straight titles before falling in last year's final.
   USTA 30 Indoors -- Vittorio Fratta of Walnut Creek upset fourth-seeded Thomas Morton of Citrus Heights 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the USTA National Men's, Women's & Mixed 30 Indoor Championships at the Spare Time Indoor Tennis Center in Gold River.
   In today's men's semifinals, Fratta will face No. 2 seed Calle Hansen, 36, of Newbury Park at 9 a.m., and No. 1 seed and two-time defending champion Jan Tiilikainen, 44, of Reno will play No. 3 Tyler Browne, 30, of Walnut Creek at noon.
   Browne, a former Cal standout and now the associate head coach of the Bears men, eliminated 2015 runner-up Ryan Sablan of Martinez 6-4, 6-2.
   Both women's semis are scheduled for 9 a.m. No. 1 seed Evgenia Dockter of Atlanta will face Brooke Biddle of Dallas, and No. 2 seed and defending champion Marisue Jacutin-Mariona of Los Altos will meet Francesca LaO of San Francisco.

Three Sac State women named first-team All-Big Sky

   Sacramento State placed the most women, three, on the All-Big Sky first team than any other conference school.
   Honored on Friday were junior Daria Savchenko of Russia and sophomores Deimante Bulatovaite of Lithuania and Alina Soltanici of Moldova. Savchenko made the first team for the second consecutive year.
   Sac State won the Big Sky regular-season championship with an 11-0 record but had its streak of conference tournament titles stopped at 13. The Hornets, with no seniors on the roster, lost to Idaho 4-3 in the final at the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento area to finish the season 17-11.
   For the first time since Sac State joined the Big Sky in 1996-97, the men's team had no players on the first team. Senior Roy Brandys of Poland was named to the second team, and junior Sean Kolar of Loomis in the Sacramento region received honorable mention.
   The injury-plagued Hornets finished 10-14 overall and 7-4 in the Big Sky.

COLLEGE RANKINGS

(Top 10 and Northern California; previous ranking in parentheses)

Women's team

1. USC (2)

2. North Carolina (1)
3. Cal (4)
4. Vanderbilt (4)
5. Florida (5)
6. UCLA (6)

7. Georgia (7)
8. Virginia (10)

9. Baylor (8)

10. Texas A&M (9)

14. Stanford (13)

40. Saint Mary's (37)

55. Fresno State (49)

68. San Jose State (62)

69. USF (64)

Women's singles

1. Robin Anderson, UCLA

2. Carol Zhao, Stanford 

3. Brooke Austin, Florida

4. Maegan Manasse, Cal

5. Lauren Herring,Georgia

6. Julia Elbaba, Virginia
7. Jamie Loeb, North Carolina
8. Sydney Campbell, Vanderbilt

8. Lorraine Guillermo, Pepperdine
10. Julia Jones, Mississippi
14. Giuliana Olmos (Fremont resident), USC 

18. Klara Fabikova, Cal
19. Taylor Davidson, Stanford

25. Caroline Doyle, Stanford
43. Zsofi Susanyi, Cal

44. Denise Starr, Cal

50. Lynn Chi, Cal
85. Sophie Watts, Fresno State

92. Krista Hardebeck, Stanford 

103. Karla Popovic, Cal

106. Ellen Tsay, Stanford

Women's doubles

1. Maya Jansen and Erin Routliffe, Alabama
2. Taylor Davidson and Carol Zhao, Stanford

3. Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips, UCLA

4. Beatrice Gumulya and Jessy Rompies, Clemson

5. Klara Fabikova and Zsofi Susanyi, Cal

6. Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan, Florida
7. Maegan Manasse and Denise Starr, Cal

8. Pleun Burgmans and Emily Flickinger, Auburn

9. Robin Anderson and Jennifer Brady, UCLA

10. Caroline Doyle and Ellen Tsay, Stanford

19. Giuliana Olmos (Fremont resident) and Zoe Scandalis, USC
40. Hadley Berg (Greenbrae resident) and Caroline Dailey, South Carolina
46. Lynn Chi and Denise Starr, Cal
49. Joanna Smith and Kassidy Jump (Granite Bay resident), Arizona State
58. Parminder Kaur and Jana McCord, Saint Mary's

Men's team

1. Oklahoma (1)
2. Baylor (2)
3. Virginia (5)
4. Illinois (4)
5. Texas A&M (3)
6. TCU (6)
7. Georgia (7)
8. USC (8)
9. Texas (10)
10. Duke (9)
23. Stanford (28)
26. Cal (25)
53. USF (52)   
58. UC Davis (57)
66. Fresno State (69) 

Men's singles

1. Alex Alvarez Llamas, Oklahoma
2. Julian Lenz, Baylor
3. Mackenzie McDonald (Piedmont resident), UCLA
4. Soren Hess-Olesen, Texas
5. Sebastian Stiefelmeyer, Louisville
6. Noah Rubin, Wake Forest
7. Andrew Harris, Oklahoma
8. Ryan Shane, Virginia
9. Quentin Monaghan, Notre Dame
10. Gonzales Austin, Vanderbilt
26. Tom Fawcett, Stanford
29. Andre Goransson, Cal
71. John Morrissey, Stanford
77. Collin Altamirano (Sacramento resident), Virginia
97. Filip Bergevi, Cal
120. Bernardo Saraiva, USF 

Men's doubles

1. Austin Smith and Ben Wagland, Georgia

2. Luca Corinteli and Ryan Shane, Virginia

3. Roberto Quiroz and Yannick Hanfmann, USC

4. Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese, Tennessee
5. Gonzales Austin and Rhys Johnson, Vanderbilt
6. Julian Cash and Florian Lakat, Mississippi State
7. Kevin Metka and Ralf Steinback, Ohio State
8. Julian Lenz and Diego Galeano, Baylor
9. John Morrissey and Robert Stineman, Stanford
10. Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant, Texas A&M
12. Mackenzie McDonald (Piedmont resident) and Martin Redlicki, UCLA
51. Gregory Bayane and Chase Melton, Cal
69. Tom Fawcett and Maciek Romanowicz, Stanford

Cal's Fabikova falls in Pac-12 final

   Klara Fabikova lost a set 6-0 for the first time this season on Sunday.
   But the Cal junior, who lost to UCLA's Catherine Harrison 6-4, 6-0 in the final of the Pac-12 Championships in Ojai, shouldn't feel too bad. Harrison demolished Utah's Tereza Bekerova 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.
   Harrison, unseeded and ranked 67th, did not lose a set in her five matches, including a walkover in the semifinals.
   Fabikova, seeded fourth and ranked 25th, was trying to win Cal's first conference singles title since 2006.
   “When I started I didn’t feel as comfortable on the court as (Saturday),” Fabikova (31-8), from the Czech Republic, said on calbears.com of her semifinal win over top-seeded and 18th-ranked Giuliana Olmos of USC. “I felt this pressure right away. I was up 2-0 at one point, but I didn’t really feel like myself today.
   "It was a little harder to play my game today. She hit the ball flatter than all the other girls, and I had less time for everything – less time to get to the ball, less time to prepare. She played really well and served really well. She didn’t make many mistakes.”
   None of the top three women in the country -- No. 1 Robin Anderson of UCLA, No. 2 Carol Zhao of Stanford or No. 3 Maegan Manasse of Cal -- played singles in the Pac-12 Championships. Nor did No. 17 Taylor Davidson of Stanford.
   In an all-Stanford doubles final, top-seeded Davidson and Zhao beat fourth-seeded Caroline Doyle and Ellen Tsay 7-5, 6-2. Anderson didn't play doubles, either.
   Big Sky Conference Championships in Gold River -- The Sacramento State women's streak of 13 tournament titles ended with a 4-3 loss to Idaho at the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento area.
   At 3-3, Lucia Badillos defeated Olivia Boija 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 at the No. 6 spot. Boija led 5-1 in the second set. Sac State (17-11) was seeded first and Idaho (15-8) second.
   Idaho swept the titles in its first year in the Big Sky. The second-seeded men topped sixth-seeded Northern Arizona 4-2.

Young and restless highlight top stories of 2014

CiCi Bellis, 15, meets the press after stunning Australian Open runner-up Dominika
Cibulkova in the first round of the U.S. Open in August. Photo courtesy of USTA

   It will be remembered as the year of youth in Northern California.
   Everywhere you looked -- in the professional, college and junior ranks -- teenagers either from NorCal or playing in the region starred in 2014. And no one shone brighter than 15-year-old CiCi Bellis of Atherton.
   Bellis became an overnight sensation in the U.S. Open, overshadowing the rest of her phenomenal year.
   Naomi Osaka, 16, of Japan pulled off a major upset in the Bank of the West Classic on the elite WTA tour at Stanford.
   Stefan Kozlov, Jared Donaldson and Michaela Gordon broke through in NorCal Challengers. Kozlov, 16, and Donaldson, who turned 18 on Oct. 9, are pros from Florida and Rhode Island, respectively. Gordon is a 15-year-old amateur from Saratoga, near San Jose.
   Unseeded Lynn Chi reached the NCAA women's singles final in May as a 19-year-old Cal sophomore.
   Sacramento's Collin Altamirano gained the final of the USTA Boys 18 National Championships for the second straight year.
   Sam Riffice, 15, of Roseville achieved a rare double. His neighbor, 14-year-old Keenan Mayo, and Katie Volynets, 12, of Walnut Creek won USTA national titles.
   Marring an otherwise glorious year were the depravity of Deepal Wannakuwatte, the demise of the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis and the loss of the legends tournament in Sacramento.
   Here are the czar's top 10 stories of the year, followed by honorable mentions, in NorCal tennis: 
   1. Bellis stuns Cibulkova in U.S. Open -- Bellis shocked 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in the first round at Flushing Meadows.
   Bellis, then the second-ranked junior in the world, overcame a 3-1 deficit in the third set to become the youngest player to win a main-draw match in the U.S. Open since Anna Kournikova, also 15, in 1996.
   Cibulkova, only 5-foot-3 (1.61 meters), was the runner-up to Li Na in the Australian Open in January and won last year's Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.
   Bellis' hometown of Atherton is adjacent to Stanford, and she grew up attending the tournament.

Mike, left, and Bob Bryan of the visiting Texas Wild and their
father, Sacramento Capitals coach Wayne Bryan, watch
players warm up before a World TeamTennis match in 2013.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   2. Bryans win U.S. Open for 100th career title -- Appropriately, top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan outclassed 11th-seeded Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez of Spain 6-3, 6-4 at Flushing Meadows for their 100th men's doubles title.
   The Bryans, 36-year-old identical twins and ex-Stanford stars from Southern California, extended their record to 16 Grand Slam men's doubles crowns. Five have come in the U.S. Open, tying Richard Sears and James Dwight in the 1880s. The Bryans surpassed Bob Lutz and Stan Smith for the record in the Open era, which began in 1968.
   3. Wannakuwatte sentenced -- Wannakuwatte, the Capitals' owner, was sentenced in November to 20 years in prison for orchestrating a massive Ponzi scheme. Wannakuwatte, a 64-year-old native of Sri Lanka, will be eligible for parole in 17 years.
   Wannakuwatte was arrested on Feb. 20 in Sacramento on charges of defrauding banks and individual investors in his medical supply business of more than $100 million.
   4. Bellis ends year as world's top junior -- Bellis clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking by reaching the quarterfinals of the prestigious Orange Bowl in Plantation, Fla., this month after previously top-ranked Shilin Xu of China lost in the first round.
   The second-seeded Bellis fell to 13th seed and eventual champion Sofia Kenin, 16, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., in the Orange Bowl semifinals.
   Bellis, however, won the doubles title with Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.
   5. Bellis wins USTA 18 title -- Bellis, seeded second, drubbed fifth-seeded Tornado Alicia Black, 16, of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-3, 6-1 in San Diego to become the youngest winner of the USTA Girls 18 National Championships since Lindsay Davenport, also 15, in 1991.
   Bellis, who won 12 of the last 13 games after trailing 3-0 in the first set, earned an automatic wild card in the women's main draw of the U.S. Open.

Sabine Lisicki uncorks a record 131-mph (210.8-kph)
serve in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.
Photo courtesy of Bank of the West Classic.

   6. Lisicki blasts world's fastest women's serve -- Sabine Lisicki of Germany unleashed a 131-mph (210.8-kph) rocket in a 7-6 (2), 6-1 loss to fifth-seeded Ana Ivanovic in a first-round day match in the Bank of the West Classic.
   Venus Williams, who held the previous mark of 129 mph (207.6 kph), overpowered qualifier Paula Kania of Poland 6-3, 6-2 in the featured night match at Stanford.
   7. Serena wins BOW again -- Top-seeded Serena Williams captured her third Bank of the West title, beating third-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany 7-6 (1), 6-3.
   Williams, who overcame a 5-1 deficit in the first set and two set points at 5-2, also won the tournament in 2011 and 2012. She did not return last year.
   8. Kozlov reaches Challenger final -- Kozlov, a wild card, stunned No. 2 seed Tim Smyczek of Tampa, Fla., 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1) in the semifinals of the $100,000 Sacramento Pro Circuit Challenger at the Natomas Racquet Club.
   Kozlov recorded his first victory over a top-100 player -- Smyczek (pronounced SMEE-check) was No. 99 -- and reached his first Challenger final in only his third attempt.
   Top-seeded Sam Querrey ended Kozlov's amazing run in the final, 6-3, 6-4, but predicted his young countryman eventually would crack the top 10 in the world.

Serena Williams won her third Bank of the West title, beating
Angelique Kerber. Tri Nguyen/TriNguyenPhotography.com

   9. Riffice wins back-to-back major junior titles -- Riffice joined Grigor Dimitrov as the only players to sweep the boys 16 singles titles in the Eddie Herr International Championships and the Orange Bowl. The tournaments were held back-to-back this month in Bradenton, Fla., and Plantation, Fla., respectively.
   Dimitrov, a 23-year-old Bulgarian and the boyfriend of Maria Sharapova, is ranked 11th in the world after ascending to a career-high No. 8 in August.
   10. Capitals move after 28 years, then fold -- The Capitals, the longest-running and most successful WTT franchise, announced in February that they were moving to Las Vegas. However, the team disbanded five weeks later after Wannakuwatte was charged.
   The Capitals won a record six WTT titles during their 28 years in Sacramento. Kolleen McNamee, the team's general manager, cited the lack of a permanent tennis facility as the reason for the move.
   Honorable mention -- Davenport, a former Capital, was inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
   -- Northern California was omitted from the 2015 PowerShares Series schedule after a stop in Sacramento last February. Recently retired James Blake won the four-man Champions Shootout over Hall of Famers John McEnroe, Pete Sampras and Jim Courier.

Stefan Kozlov, 16, falls onto his back to celebrate his victory
over No. 2 seed Tim Smyczek in the semifinals of the
$100,000 Sacramento Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

   -- Raquel Kops-Jones, a San Jose resident and former NCAA doubles champion from Cal, reached the doubles semifinals in the Australian Open with regular partner Abigail Spears of San Diego.
   -- Osaka, a qualifier playing in her first WTA main-draw match, shocked unseeded Samantha Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open champion, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5 in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic. Stosur held a match point at 7-6 in the tiebreaker and led 5-3 in the third set.
   -- Maria Sanchez, who was born and raised in Modesto, won her first WTA title. Unseeded Sharon Fichman of Canada and Sanchez edged third-seeded Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic and Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands 2-6, 6-0 [10-4] in the doubles final of the $250,000 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
   -- Querrey swept the singles titles of the Napa, Sacramento and Tiburon Challengers in consecutive weeks in late September and early October.
   -- Bellis won back-to-back $25,000 Challenger singles crowns in Rock Hill, S.D., and Florence, S.C., reached the girls doubles final in the French Open (with Vondrousova), helped the United States win the Junior Fed Cup in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and captured the girls 18 singles title in the prestigious Easter Bowl in Indian Wells.
   -- Donaldson reached the semifinals of the $50,000 Napa Challenger and quarterfinals of the Sacramento Challenger at 17.

Lindsay Davenport, a former Sacramento
Capital, was inducted in the International Tennis
Hall of Fame. 2012 photo by Paul Bauman

   -- Gordon advanced to the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Redding Challenger before losing to Alexandra Stevenson, a 1999 Wimbledon semifinalist and the daughter of basketball legend Julius Erving, in a third-set tiebreaker.
   -- Chi fell to Danielle Collins of Virginia 6-2, 7-5 in a matchup of unseeded sophomores in the NCAA women's singles final in Athens, Ga.
   -- Paul Goldstein, a Stanford alumnus and former pro who climbed to No. 58 in the world in singles and No. 40 in doubles, was named the Cardinal's third men's coach since 1967. Goldstein, who turned 38 in August, replaced John Whitlinger, who announced his retirement at age 60 after Stanford's second consecutive first-round exit from the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal has won 17 NCAA men's team titles, second to USC's 21, but none since 2000.
   -- The injury-plagued Sacramento State women suffered their first Big Sky Conference losses in 13 years.   
   -- Jessica Willett, a junior at San Jose State, saved 11 match points in a 6-2, 0-6, 7-5 victory over Suzy Tan at No. 5 singles to clinch the Spartans' 4-2 victory over Dartmouth in San Jose.
   -- Altamirano, the fifth seed and defending champion, lost to third-seeded Noah Rubin of Rockville Centre, N.Y., 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the USTA Boys 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich. Rubin had won the Wimbledon boys singles title the previous month.
   -- Riffice, Mayo and Milpitas' Andrew Ton won boys titles in the USTA National Clay Court Championships. Riffice captured the 16 doubles in Delray Beach, Fla., Mayo the 14 singles in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Ton the 14 doubles in Fort Lauderdale.
   -- The top-seeded Volynets won the USTA Girls 12 National Championships, dominating sixth-seeded Sedona Gallagher of Henderson, Nev., 6-0, 6-3 in Alpharetta, Ga.   

Sac State women's streak of Big Sky MVPs ends

   For the first time in 12 years, a Sacramento State woman was not named the Big Sky Conference MVP.
   That honor went to Montana junior Haley Driver of Scottsdale, Ariz., the league announced Thursday.
   But two Hornets, senior Sophie Lohscheidt of Germany and sophomore Daria Savchenko of Russia, made the All-Big Sky first team.
   Two other Sac State women were honored. Freshman Alina Soltanici of Moldova was named to the second team, and sophomore Olivia Boija of Sweden received honorable mention.
   Boija beat Laurence Pelchat in a third-set tiebreaker at No. 4 singles Sunday to give Sac State a 4-3 victory over Montana in the final of the Big Sky tournament in the Sacramento suburb of Gold River.
   Two Sac State men, junior Roy Brandys of Poland and sophomore Niranjan Ram of India, were named first-team All-Big Sky. No other Hornets men received recognition.
   Big West Conference -- Two UC Davis freshmen, Alec Adamson of Corona del Mar and James Wade of San Marino, were selected to the All-Big West Conference first team in men's singles, the league announced this week.
   Adamson also made the first team in doubles with sophomore Adam Levie of Solana Beach.
   UCD's Kyle Miller, a senior from Pacific Grove, was named to the second team in singles. Also, sophomore Brett Bacharach of Newcastle and senior Adam Luba of Salinas made the second team in doubles.
   On the women's side, the Aggies' Megan Heneghan earned first-team All-Big West honors in singles for the third time in four years. Heneghan, from Tustin, also received honorable mention in doubles with senior Melissa Kobayakawa of Cupertino.
   UCD senior Nicole Koehly of Santa Ana and junior Layla Sanders of El Cerrito were selected to the first team in doubles. 

Stanford, Cal women to open at home in NCAAs

  The Stanford and Cal women have a good chance to reach the round of 16 of the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga., next month.
   The men from both schools, however, and the Sacramento State women figure to lose early.
   The NCAA today released the Division I men's and women's brackets for the team championships, which begin May 9 at schools around the country. The last 16 in each bracket advance to Athens to compete May 15-20 for the national championship.
   The fields for the NCAA men's and women's singles and doubles tournaments, May 21-26 in Athens, will be announced Wednesday at www.ncaasports.com by 3 p.m. PDT.
   The Stanford and Cal women will play at home in the first round of the NCAA Team Championships, while their male counterparts and Sac State women will open on the road. Second-round matches are at the same sites, and the survivors will converge in Athens.
   The defending champion Stanford women (16-2), seeded 11th, will open against Quinnipiac (13-10) of Hamden, Conn., on May 9 at 2 p.m. at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium. The winner will face either Tulsa (17-5) or Long Beach State (20-2) on May 10 at 1 p.m.
   The Cal women (18-4), seeded sixth, will face Fairleigh Dickinson (13-4) of Hackensack, N.J., on May 9 at 1 p.m. at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The winner will take on either Pepperdine (18-4) or LSU (14-13) on May 10 at noon.
   The Stanford men (14-5) will play Tulsa (15-12) in Waco, Texas, on May 10 at 9 a.m. PDT, with the survivor probably meeting host and No. 5 seed Baylor (23-5).       
   The Cal men (15-7) will go against Texas Tech (13-10) in College Station, Texas, on May 10 at 7 a.m. PDT, with the winner likely facing host and No. 8 seed Texas A&M (24-6).
   The Sac State women (12-16) will visit top-ranked and No. 5 seed UCLA (21-2) on May 9 at 1 p.m.

Sac State wins thriller for 13th straight Big Sky title

   GOLD RIVER, Calif. -- The Sacramento State women already lost one amazing streak this year.
   Olivia Boija didn't want to make it two.
   Saving two match points in the deciding contest, the Swedish sophomore edged Laurence Pelchat of Montana 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5) at No. 4 singles on Sunday. That gave the Hornets their 13th consecutive title in the Big Sky Conference Championships and an automatic berth in the NCAA Championships.
   While Boija's teammates stormed the court to celebrate the third-seeded Hornets' pulsating 4-3 victory over the top-seeded Grizzlies at the Gold River Racquet Club, Pelchat repeatedly flung her racket in disgust.
   Depleted by injuries two weeks ago, Sac State suffered its first conference loss in 13 years. The Hornets fell to Montana 4-3 in Missoula, Mont., ending the Hornets' Big Sky-record conference winning streak at 112 matches. In the decider, Sac State freshman Deimante Bulatovaite of Lithuania had three match points in a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (6) loss to Ashley Mackey at No. 5 singles.
   Sac State, with an all-international lineup, turned it around this time.
   "It means a lot since we were winning (the Big Sky tournament) 12 years in a row," said Boija (pronounced BOY-ya). "We wanted to continue the streak, and I know how hard the girls were fighting. Since we lost the (conference match) winning streak, it was revenge for us."
   As if Sac State needed additional incentive, the men's streak of Big Sky tournament titles ended at five on Saturday with a 4-1 loss to top-seeded Weber State. Second-seeded Montana routed the Wildcats 4-0 on Sunday for the championship.
  The Sac State women regained the services of Katharina Knoebl, a senior from Austria who won at No. 2 doubles and No. 6 singles. However, No. 1 singles player Jennifer Nguyen remains out after tearing two ligaments and the meniscus in her right knee during a match one month ago. The sophomore from Australia underwent surgery and attended Sunday's matches with a brace on her leg.
   Boija survived match points with Pelchat -- a junior from Quebec, Canada, who had beaten Boija 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 in Missoula -- serving at 5-4, 40-15 in the third set.
   "Tennis is so mental," Boija observed. "I just tried to play my normal game. If you think she has match points, you're going to feel the pressure. I tried to ignore it."
   Boija also fell behind 3-1 in the tiebreaker before reeling off five consecutive points. She converted her third match point with a runaround forehand passing shot.
   "I was really nervous (at 6-3 in the tiebreaker)," she conceded. "You know you only need one more point. I tried to ignore it, but it was hard. On the last one, I said, 'You just have to finish.' It was all up to me. She wasn't going to take any chances."
   Sac State (12-16) will learn its opponent for the NCAA Championships, which begin May 9 at sites around the country, when the bracket is announced Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. PDT. Montana ended its season at 16-8.
   See below for full results of Sunday's match.
   Pac-12 Championships in Ojai, Calif. -- Top-seeded Kristie Ahn and Carol Zhao of Stanford lost to unseeded Kaitlyn Christian and Giuliana Olmos of USC 6-3, 6-3 Sunday in the women's doubles final. Christian, a senior from Orange, won the crown for the third straight time, pairing with Sabrina Santamaria in 2012 and 2013.
   Olmos, a junior from Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area, also won the invitational singles title with a 6-1, 6-2 decision over Klara Fabikova of Cal. Olmos was seeded third and Fabikova fifth.
   Unseeded Kassidy Jump, a freshman from Granite Bay in the Sacramento area, and Joanna Smith of Arizona State took the women's invitational doubles title. They topped third-seeded Brynn Boren and Zoe Scandalis of USC 8-6.
   Fifth-ranked UCLA knocked off No. 1 USC 4-2 for the men's championship.
   USTA Pro Circuit in Charlottesville, Va. -- Top-seeded Irina Falconi and Maria Sanchez, who was born and raised in Modesto, lost to second-seeded Asia Muhammad and Taylor Townsend 6-3, 6-1 in the final of the $50,000 Boyd Tinsley Clay Court Classic.
   Muhammad and Townsend played for the now-defunct Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis.
   Townsend also won the singles title as a wild card, outclassing qualifier Montserrat Gonzalez of Paraguay 6-2, 6-3.
   The professional titles were the first for Townsend, who turned 18 on April 16. In 2012, she became the first American in 30 years to hold the year-end No. 1 world ranking in junior girls singles.
   Sanchez continued to struggle in singles, falling to Elitsa Kostova of Bulgaria 6-2, 6-1 in the first round.

BIG SKY CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Gold River Racquet Club

Women's final

Sacramento State 4, Montana 3

Doubles

   1. Olivia Boija-Sophie Lohscheidt (SAC) vs. Haley Driver-Precious Gbadamosi 6-5, unfinished.
   2. Katharina Knoebl-Daria Savchenko (SAC) def. Sasha Carter-Laurence Pelchat 8-3.
   3. Diamante Bulatovaite-Alina Soltanici (SAC) def. Anabel Carbo Estruch-Ashley Mackey 8-4.

Singles

   1. Daria Savchenko (SAC) def. Haley Driver 7-6 (5), 6-2.
   2. Precious Gbadamosi (UM) def. Alina Soltanici 7-5, 1-6, 6-1.
   3. Sasha Carter (UM) def. Sophie Lohschiedt 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.
   4. Olivia Boija (SAC) def. Laurence Pelchat 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5).
   5. Ashley Mackey (UM) def. Diamante Bulatovaite 6-3, 6-3.
   6. Katharina Knoebl (SAC) def. Maddy Murray 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. 
   Order of finish: Doubles (2, 3); singles (5, 1, 2, 6, 3, 4).

Sac State women's 13-year streak ends; Easter Bowl

The Sacramento State women's tennis team, coached by Dima Hrynashka (front left)
poses after winning the 2012 Big Sky Conference tournament. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The Sacramento State women went 13 years without losing a Big Sky Conference match.
   Then they lost two in one day.
   Short-handed Sac State fell to Montana 4-3 in Missoula, Mont., ending the Hornets' Big Sky-record 112-match conference winning streak, and Montana State by the same score in Bozeman, Mont., on Friday.
   In the deciding match against Montana, freshman Deimante Bulatovaite of Lithuania lost to Ashley Mackey 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (6) at No. 5 singles after holding three match points at 5-4 in the third set.
   With just five healthy players, Sac State (9-14, 7-2) forfeited two matches against Montana State (7-10, 4-4).
   The loss to Montana (12-7, 7-0) was the Hornets' first in conference play since a 4-1 setback to Weber State on April 14, 2001, in the Big Sky tournament. The streak was the longest by a team in any sport in Big Sky history and is believed to be the longest ever in NCAA Division I tennis.
   Sac State played without injured Jennifer Nguyen (No. 1 singles) and Katharina Knoebl (No. 4-5) in both matches Friday and lost Alina Soltanici (No. 1-3) and Daria Savchenko (No. 2-3) to injuries against Montana.
   Easter Bowl in Indian Wells -- Five Northern Californians reached the singles semifinals in various age groups in the prestigious junior tournament.
   Advancing were fourth-seeded CiCi Bellis of Atherton and seventh-seeded Michaela Gordon of Saratoga in the girls 18s, 11th-seeded Alexander Keyser of Danville in the boys 16s, second-seeded Keenan Mayo of Roseville in the boys 14s and sixth-seeded Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek in the girls 12s.
   Bellis, who turned 15 on Tuesday, will meet No. 1 seed Sofia Kenin of Pembroke Pines, Fla., today.

FRIDAY'S COLLEGE RESULTS
Women

   Montana 4, Sacramento State 3 and Montana State 4, Sac State 3
   No. 7 Stanford 4, Oregon 0
   No. 28 Pepperdine 4, Pacific 0
   No. 74 Fresno State 5, San Jose State 2
   USF 6, Portland 1

   Hawaii Pacific 5, UC Davis 2

Men

   No. 19 Cal 4, Oregon 0
   No. 43 Stanford 4, Washington 3
   Saint Mary's 4, Loyola Marymount 0
   USF 5, Gonzaga 2
   UC Santa Barbara 5, UC Davis 2
   Pepperdine 4, Pacific 1

Gasp! Stanford men drop NCAA opener

   The unthinkable occurred Friday.
   The Stanford men lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 35 appearances, falling to No. 20 LSU 4-2 in Malibu. The No. 40 Cardinal (12-12) played without injured freshman Trey Strobel at No. 6 singles.
   No. 42 Chris Simpson clinched the victory for LSU (16-11) by beating No. 50 John Morrissey 7-5, 6-1 at No. 1 singles.
   Stanford has won 17 NCAA men's team titles but none since 2000, when the Cardinal won its fifth championship in six years.

Riki, left, and Ben McLachlan of Cal.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Meanwhile, the No. 18 Cal men defeated No. 33 Florida State 4-1 in Gainesville, Fla. Senior Riki McLachlan of New Zealand returned from a three-month injury layoff for the Bears, leading 6-2, 2-5 at No. 6 singles when the match was halted because Cal had clinched the overall victory.
   Riki's brother and teammate, Ben, defeated Dominic Cotrone 7-5, 6-3 at No. 1 singles. Ben, a junior, is ranked No. 38,  and Cotrone is No. 92.
   The Bears (15-9) will play Denver, which beat host and No. 15 Florida 4-3, today at 1 p.m. PDT.
   The Sacramento State men lost to host and No. 4 USC 4-0. No. 16 Ray Sarmiento of the Trojans led No. 117 Marek Marksoo 7-6 (5) at No. 1 singles when the match was stopped.
   In the women's competition, No. 8 Cal and No. 12 Stanford breezed, but No. 40 Saint Mary's lost.
   Host Cal dominated Stony Brook 4-0. Zsofi Susanyi, ranked fifth in singles, returned for the Bears after suffering an undisclosed injury on April 26. The sophomore from Hungary routed Jackie Altansarnai 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3 singles.
   The Bears (17-5) will face No. 25 Auburn, a 4-2 winner over Saint Mary's, today at noon at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
   Host Stanford blanked Miami of Ohio 4-0 behind Nicole Gibbs, the NCAA defending champion in singles and doubles. The junior from Santa Monica crushed Nimisha Mohan 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.
   The Cardinal (17-4) will meet No. 22 Rice, which edged No. 53 Pepperdine 4-3,today at 1 p.m. at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.

Stanford's Hardebeck crushed in Pac-12 final

UCLA's Kyle McPhillips, shown in last year's Australian Open
girls doubles event, demolished Stanford's Krista Hardebeck
to win the Pac-12 women's singles title. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Sunday couldn't have gone much worse for Stanford's Krista Hardebeck.
   In the most one-sided final in the history of the Pac-12 Championships, 40th-ranked Kyle McPhillips of UCLA trounced No. 19 Hardebeck 6-1, 6-0 in Ojai, Calif. Both players are freshmen.
   Hardebeck, from Santa Ana in the Los Angeles area, had defeated McPhillips, from Willoughby, Ohio, 7-5, 6-1 in Stanford's 4-3 victory over UCLA on March 29 in Los Angeles. McPhillips also lost to Cal freshman Klara Fabikova the following day but has won nine consecutive matches since then.
   McPhillips became the first UCLA player to win the conference singles title since Yasmin Schnack, from the Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove, in 2010 and the first Bruins freshman to do so since Sara Walker in 2000. Hardebeck was trying to become the third straight Stanford player to win the crown, following Kristie Ahn in 2011 and Nicole Gibbs last year.
   Gibbs, a Stanford junior, competed in the $50,000 Boyd Tinsley Clay Court Classic in Charlottesville, Va., instead of the Pac-12 Championships. She reached the singles quarterfinals, losing to Patricia Mayr-Achleitner of Austria, and the doubles final with fellow American Shelby Rogers, falling to Nicola Slater of Great Britain and CoCo Vandeweghe of the United States.
    Big Sky Conference Championships in Gold River, Calif. -- The Sacramento State women won their 12th straight title and the Sac State men their fifth in a row. Both teams defeated Montana 4-1 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, which begins on May 10.
   The Sac State women (13-13) extended their conference winning streak to 105 matches dating to 2002. The Hornets' Rebeca Delgado, a senior from Mexico, pounded Heather Davidson, a senior from Rocklin in the Sacramento area, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 singles.
   Leading the Sac State men (17-12) was Marek Marksoo, a sophomore from Estonia who drubbed Mikolaj Caruk, a junior from Poland, 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles. Sean Kolar, a sophomore from the Sacramento suburb of Loomis, clinched the title with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Ethan Vaughn at No. 4 singles.
   Family affair -- Siblings Michael and Ali Facey of Cameron Park, near Sacramento, played on losing teams in their respective conference finals.
   Michael, a senior at Montana, trailed 6-5 at No. 1 doubles and led 7-5, 4-5 at No. 3 singles when the matches were halted because Sac State had clinched the doubles point and then the title. His parents, Mike and Kim, watched the matches at the Gold River Racquet Club, about a 25-minute drive down Highway 50 from the family's home.
   The No. 31 UC Irvine women, with Ali Facey, fell to No. 45 Long Beach State 4-1 in Indian Wells. Facey, a sophomore, lost 8-6 at No. 2 doubles and 6-2, 6-4 at No. 5 singles. Her twin sister, Kat, also is on the Anteaters' roster but did not play against the 49ers.
   Big West Conference Championships in Indian Wells -- The Pacific men lost to UC Santa Barbara 4-2 in the final. The Tigers, who ended their season at 16-9, received victories from Denis Stolyarov at No. 3 singles and Ben Mirkin at No. 5 singles. The Gauchos (12-13) advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Player with prosthetic arm inspirational in Gaels' loss

Thomas Hunt of Saint Mary's serves against Tom Miller
of Sacramento State on Sunday. Photo by Paul Bauman

   SACRAMENTO -- Marek Marksoo, the top player for the Sacramento State men, returned from a one-month injury layoff to give the Hornets a dramatic 4-3 victory over Saint Mary's on Sunday.
   But that was only part of the story, as a poignant, inspirational scene unfolded at the far end of the Rio del Oro Racquet Club.
   Thomas Hunt of Saint Mary's performed amazingly well in a 6-3, 7-5 loss to Tom Miller at No. 6 singles. Hunt, a 6-foot-2 freshman from New Zealand, has a prosthetic left arm.
   He tossed the ball in the same place with his left arm every time on his serve and held his racket with his artificial hand while picking up balls. He slugged forehands and backhands with his strong right arm and showed good volleying form on occasional forays to the net. 

Hunt prepares to return serve.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Hunt, who dropped to 8-11 at No. 6 singles, was born without half of his left arm. It ends just above where the elbow should be, and his parents fitted him for a prosthetic arm months after his birth.

   Saint Mary's, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, bolted to a 3-1 lead against Sac State in the regular-season finale for both teams.
   The victory by Miller, a sophomore from England, pulled the Hornets within 3-2, and Sean Kolar tied it with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (2) win at No. 4 singles.
   Marksoo, a sophomore from Estonia returning from a sprained ankle, then outlasted Jesse Kiuru, a senior from Finland, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 to lift Sac State. Marksoo is ranked No. 117 and Kiuru No. 116. 
   Sac State (15-12) will be seeded first in the Big Sky Conference Tournament, scheduled for Friday through Sunday at the Gold River Racquet Club in the Sacramento area.
   Saint Mary's (9-14) will compete in the West Coast Conference Championships, which begin Wednesday in San Diego.

OTHER COLLEGE RESULTS

(Last day of regular season)

Men

   No. 60 Santa Clara def. Portland 5-2 in Santa Clara. No. 1 singles: No. 75 John Lamble (SC) def. Ratan Gill 6-0, 1-6, 7-5. Team records: Santa Clara 16-9 overall, 4-4 West Coast Conference; Portland 10-10, 2-5.
   No. 71 Pacific def. UC Riverside 4-3 in Riverside. No. 1 singles: Jimmy Roberts (UCR) def. Sem Verbeek 6-4, 6-4. Team records: Pacific 14-8 overall, 4-2 Big West Conference; UC Riverside 3-20, 0-5.
   UC Irvine def. UC Davis 4-3 in Irvine. No. 1 singles: Ryan Cheung (UCI) def. Toki Sherbakov 6-3, 6-4. Team records: UC Irvine 9-16 overall, 5-1 Big West; UC Davis 8-12, 1-5.

Women

   No. 70 Oregon def. No. 58 Santa Clara in Santa Clara. No. 1 singles: Nicole Long (O) def. No. 28 Katie Le 6-1, 7-5. Team records: Oregon 13-10, Santa Clara 9-9.

Burdette ousts top-30 player at Indian Wells

Qualifier Mallory Burdette, shown in her first-round match against
wild card Jill Craybas at Indian Wells, upset No. 23 seed Tamira
Paszek in the second round. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Mallory Burdette continued her meteoric rise with the biggest win of her brief professional career on Friday.
   The 22-year-old qualifier from Jackson, Ga., eliminated 23rd-seeded Tamira Paszek of Austria 7-6 (0), 6-1 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
   At No. 27 in the world, Paszek is the highest-ranked player Burdette has beaten since she turned pro six months ago after her junior season at Stanford. Paszek, a Wimbledon quarterfinalist the past two years, fell to 1-6 this year.
   Burdette has beaten seven top-100 players, including three at Indian Wells, in the past six months. In her two qualifying matches at Indian Wells, she dismissed No. 89 Jana Cepelova of Slovakia and No. 97 Melinda Czink of Hungary without losing more than three games in a set.
   Ranked No. 125, Burdette will approach or crack the top 100 herself regardless of how she fares against Russia's Maria Kirilenko, seeded 13th and ranked 15th, in the third round.
   Kirilenko, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon and Indian Wells last year, defeated Christina McHale of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the second round.
   Burdette, 5-foot-10 (1.77 meters), lost to teammate Nicole Gibbs in last year's NCAA singles final and teamed with Gibbs for a second straight NCAA doubles crown (winning previously with Hilary Barte). After capturing $10,000 and $100,000 tournament titles, Burdette reached the third round of the U.S. Open as a wild card before losing to third seed and 2006 champion Maria Sharapova. Burdette then turned pro.
   Another rising young American, 23-year-old wild card Maria Sanchez of Modesto in Northern California, fell to third seed and 2012 Wimbledon runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-2, 6-1 in the second round at Indian Wells.
   On the men's side, Dmitry Tursunov of Folsom in the Sacramento area lost to fellow qualifier Philipp Petzschner of Germany 6-4, 6-4 in the first round. Petzschner won the 2010 Wimbledon men's doubles title with Jurgen Melzer of Austria.
   Colleges -- Sacramento State's Marek Marksoo and Aliaksandr Malko upset ranked players, but the Hornets men lost to No. 24 Cal 5-2 on Thursday in Sacramento.
   Marksoo, a sophomore from Estonia, upended No. 56 Ben McLachlan 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (12-10) at No. 1 singles. Malko, a senior from Belarus, toppled No. 34 Christoffer Konigsfeldt 6-2, 6-4 at No. 2 singles.
   Malko and Marksoo also knocked off No. 18 Campbell Johnson and Konigsfeldt 8-6 at No. 1 doubles.
   Sac State hosted Cal for the first time since joining Division I in 1992.
   In February, Marksoo became the first player in school history to play in the Davis Cup when Estonia lost to host Ireland 3-2 in the first round of the Europe-Africa zone. Marksoo, 19, lost to Sam Barry 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 in singles and paired with Vladimir Ivanov in a 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 3-6, 9-7 loss to Barry and James McGee.

FRIDAY'S COLLEGE SCORES

Men

   Pacific def. Northern Arizona 6-1 in Stockton. No. 1 singles: Sem Verbeek (P) def. Shaun Waters 6-1, 6-3. Records: Pacific 7-4, Northern Arizona 2-10. 

Women

   No. 18 Cal def. No. 73 Washington State 6-1 in Berkeley. No. 1 singles: No. 8 Anett Schutting (C) def. Liudmila Vasilieva 6-0, 6-2. Records: Cal 6-4, Washington State 10-3.
   No. 20 Stanford def. No. 31 Washington 7-0 at Stanford. No. 1 singles: No. 87 Nicole Gibbs (S) def. No. 124 Andjela Nemcevic 6-4, 6-0. Records: Stanford 6-2, Washington 8-4.
   No. 49 Saint Mary's def. Sacramento State 7-0. No. singles: No. 18 Jenny Jullien (SM) def. Rebeca Delgado 7-5, 6-2. Records: Saint Mary's 6-6, Sac State 1-7.

College previews: Stanford, Cal, Sac State, UC Davis, etc.

Nicole Gibbs lost to eventual champion Serena Williams in the
second round of the Bank of the West Classic on Gibbs' home
court at Stanford last July. Gibbs returns to the Farm for her
junior year after sweeping the NCAA singles and doubles titles.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   For a while, it appeared the Stanford women would have one of the greatest college teams of all time this season.
   Now, the Cardinal will have to settle for being a strong contender for its record 17th NCAA team title.
   After winning two pro tournaments in singles, including the $100,000 Odlum Brown Vancouver Open, and reaching the third round of the U.S. Open before losing to Maria Sharapova last summer, Mallory Burdette decided to forgo her senior season on the Farm.
   All Burdette did at Stanford was win the last two NCAA doubles titles and advance to last year's NCAA singles final, losing to teammate Nicole Gibbs.
   Shed no tears for Stanford, though. The Cardinal has three players with world rankings -- No. 225 Gibbs (who also won last year's NCAA doubles crown with Burdette), No. 308 Krista Hardebeck and No. 561 Kristie Ahn -- plus Stacey Tan, the 2011 NCAA singles runner-up, and Ellen Tsay, ranked No. 55 in college.
   Following are capsules of Northern California college teams:

STANFORD WOMEN

   Preseason national ranking -- No. 5. 
   Spring season opener -- Today at Freeman Invitational in Las Vegas and National Collegiate Tennis Classic in Indian Wells.
   Coach -- Lele Forood (13th year, 308-19, .942).
   Last season -- 21-2 (9-1 Pacific-12 Conference), lost in quarterfinals of NCAA Tournament.
   Key player lost -- Mallory Burdette, two-time reigning NCAA doubles champion, 2012 NCAA singles runner-up.
   Key returning players -- Junior Nicole Gibbs (Santa Monica), defending NCAA singles and doubles champion; senior Stacey Tan (Lakewood), 2012 All-Pac-12 second team, 2011 NCAA singles runner-up; junior Kristie Ahn (Upper Saddle River, N.J.), semifinalist in $25,000 Redding Challenger last September, 2010-11 All-American in singles; sophomore Ellen Tsay (Pleasanton), ranked No. 55 in preseason singles.
   Key addition -- Freshman Krista Hardebeck (Santa Ana), ranked No. 2 in preseason singles.
   Outlook -- The Cardinal is loaded, even without Burdette.

 STANFORD MEN

   Preseason national ranking -- No. 10.
   Spring season opener -- Defeated Sacramento State 7-0 on Tuesday.
   Coach -- John Whitlinger (ninth year, 134-67, .667).
   Last season -- 20-9 (5-2 Pac-12), lost in quarterfinals of NCAA Tournament.
   Key players lost -- Bradley Klahn, NCAA singles champion in 2010, quarterfinalist in 2011 and semifinalist in 2012; NCAA doubles runner-up in 2011, semifinalist in 2010 and quarterfinalist in 2012; Ryan Thacher,  NCAA doubles runner-up in 2011, semifinalist in 2010 and quarterfinalist in 2012.
   Key returning players -- Sophomore John Morrissey (Ireland), ranked No. 39 in preseason singles; senior Matt Kandath (Gansevoort, N.Y.); junior Daniel Ho (Rosemead); sophomore Robert Stineman (Winnetka, Ill.); junior Jamin Ball (Palo Alto), ranked No. 57 in preseason doubles with freshman Trey Strobel. 
   Key additions -- Freshmen Nolan Paige (Fairfield, Conn.), Maciek Romanowicz (Poland), Strobel (Bradenton, Fla.) and Anthony Tsodikov (San Francisco). 
   Outlook -- The Cardinal faces a rebuilding year. 

CAL WOMEN

   Preseason national ranking -- No. 7.
   Spring season opener -- Went 25-0 in singles and 10-2 in doubles in the Weinman Foundation Invitational in Honolulu from Saturday through Monday.
   Coach -- Amanda Augustus (sixth year, 96-31, .756).
   Last season -- 20-7 (8-2 Pac-12), lost in quarterfinals of NCAA Tournament.
   Key player lost -- Jana Juricova, NCAA singles champion in 2011, runner-up in 2010 and quarterfinalist in 2012; NCAA doubles champion in 2009.
   Key returning players -- Zsofi Susanyi (Hungary), ranked No. 7 in preseason singles; Anett Schutting (Estonia), ranked No. 9 in singles and No. 32 in doubles; Annie Goransson (Sweden), ranked No. 110 in singles and No. 32 in doubles; senior Tayler Davis (San Jose); sophomore Cecilia Estlander (Finland); junior Alice Duranteau (France), ranked No. 59 in doubles with sophomore Laura Posylkin (Novato).
   Key additions -- Freshmen Lynn Chi (Weston, Fla.), ranked No. 109 in preseason singles, and Klara Fabikova (Czech Republic), who lost 7-6 in third set to second-seeded Veronica Cepede Royg in the $25,000 Redding Challenger.
   Outlook -- Juricova was a big loss, but the Bears return the rest of their top seven players.

CAL MEN

   Preseason national ranking -- No. 14.
   Spring season opener -- Today at National Collegiate Tennis Classic in Indian Wells.
   Coach -- Peter Wright (20th season, 255-187, .577).
   Last season -- 14-12 (4-3 Pac-12), lost in round of 16 in NCAA Tournament.
   Key players lost -- Nick Andrews, 2012 All-American in doubles; Carlos Cueto, 2012 All-Pac-12 honorable mention.
   Key returning players -- Junior Ben McLachlan (New Zealand), ranked No. 7 in preseason doubles with older brother Riki McLachlan and No. 66 in singles; Christoffer Konigsfeldt (Denmark), ranked No. 42 in singles; redshirt sophomore Chase Melton (Santa Barbara), ranked No. 92 in singles; sophomore Gregory Bayane (France).
   Key additions -- Freshman Mads Engsted (Denmark), ranked No. 93 in preseason singles; freshmen Wyatt Houghton (Westlake Village), Stuart Miller (Napa) and Jordan Smith (Mercer Island, Wash.); sophomore Nikhil Jayashankar (Saratoga, transfer from Northwestern); junior Campbell Johnson (Rancho Santa Fe, transfer from Georgia).
   Outlook -- This is a typical Cal men's team: good but not great. 

SACRAMENTO STATE WOMEN

   Preseason national ranking -- No. 56.
   Spring season opener -- Feb. 1 at Arizona, 12:30 p.m.
   Coach --Dima Hyrnashka, seventh year (112-45, .713, overall; 47-0 in Big Sky Conference).
   Last season -- 17-10 (8-0 Big Sky), lost in first round of NCAA Tournament.
   Key players lost -- Tatsiana Kapshai, three-time Big Sky MVP; Clarisse Baca, three-time All-Big Sky first-team selection; Maria Meliuk, second-team All-Big Sky.
   Key returning players -- Senior Rebeca Delgado (Mexico), three-time All-Big Sky first-team selection; junior Sophie Lohscheidt (Germany); junior Katharina Knoebl (Austria).
   Key additions -- Freshmen Saskia Angerer (Austria), Olivia Boija (Sweden), Jennifer Nguyen (Australia) and Siobhan Ryan-Bovey (Ireland).
   Outlook -- The rebuilding Hornets seek their 12th consecutive Big Sky regular-season championship, conference tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance. They have won 92 straight conference matches.

SACRAMENTO STATE MEN

   Spring season opener -- Lost to Stanford 7-0 on Tuesday.
   Coach -- Slava Konikov, eighth year (108-71, .603, overall; 50-3, .943, in Big Sky Conference).
   Last season -- 11-13 (7-1 Big Sky), lost in first round of NCAA Tournament.
   Key player lost -- Javier Millan, second-team All-Big Sky.
   Key returning players -- Senior Aliaksandr Malko (Belarus), first-team All-Big Sky; sophomore Marek Marksoo (Estonia), first-team All-Big Sky; sophomores Sean Kollar (Loomis), Roy Brandys (Poland) and Tom Miller (Great Britain).
   Key addition -- Redshirt freshman Niranjan Ram (India).     
   Outlook --The experienced Hornets eye their fifth consecutive Big Sky tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance. 

UC DAVIS WOMEN

   Spring season opener -- Today vs. Northern Arizona in Tempe, Ariz., 1 p.m
   Coach -- Bill Maze, 18th year (193-160, .547, overall; 60-20, .750, in conference matches).
   Last season -- 12-12 (6-2 Big West Conference), lost in semifinals of Big West tournament.
   Key players lost -- Dahra Zamudio, second-team All-Big West; Kelly Chui.
   Key returning players -- Junior Megan Heneghan (Tustin), two-time All-Big West first-team selection; senior Lauren Curry (Walnut Creek); sophomore Layla Sanders (El Cerrito), second-team All-Big West in doubles; junior Nicole Koehly (Santa Ana); senior Ellie Edles (Costa Mesa). 
   Key additions -- Freshmen Claire Jaramishian (Fresno) and Tiffany Pham (Elk Grove).
   Outlook -- Led by Heneghan, the Aggies could contend for the Big West regular-season and tournament titles.

UC DAVIS MEN 

    Spring season opener -- Saturday at Santa Clara, 10 a.m.
   Coach --Eric Steidlmayer, first year.
   Last season -- 6-16 (1-4 Big West Conference), lost in quarterfinals of Big West tournament.
   Key players lost -- Chris Aria; Josh Albert, All-Big West honorable mention in doubles.
   Key returning players -- Senior Toki Sherbakov (Mountain View), All-Big West first team in singles, honorable mention in doubles; junior Kyle Miller (Pacific Grove), All-Big West honorable mention in doubles; senior Hugo Verdi-Fortin (Canada), All-Big West honorable mention in doubles; junior Alec Haley (Woodside); senior George Horowitz (Atherton).
   Key additions --Freshmen Brett Bacharach (Newcastle), Adam Levie (Solana Beach) and Mitch Thorp (Kent, Wash.).
   Outlook --Led by Sherbakov, the experienced Aggies should improve upon last season. 

ALSO

   Other national rankings and player notes:
   Women's team -- No. 42 Saint Mary's, No. 68 UC Irvine (with sophomore twins Kat and Ali Facey of Cameron Park), No. 72 Syracuse (with sophomore Breanna Bachini of Roseville).
   Women's singles -- No. 26 Katie Le (Santa Clara junior from Milpitas), No. 64 Jenny Jullien (Saint Mary's junior from France).
   Men's team -- No. 36 Santa Clara (with senior Matt Kecki of Sacramento).
   Men's singles -- No. 65 John Lamble (Santa Clara junior from Saratoga).
   Notes -- As a qualifier in her first pro tournament, Le stunned Cepede Royg, a Paraguayan then ranked No. 216 in the world, to reach the quarterfinals of the $25,000 Redding Challenger last September. Le, the reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Year, then lost to Sachie Ishizu of Japan. ...
   Kecki, an Australian Open junior doubles semifinalist in 2006 and 2007, transferred to Santa Clara after helping USC win two NCAA team titles and sitting out last season. ...
   Bachini went 4-5 in singles, primarily at No. 3 and No. 4, and 1-5 in doubles, mainly at No. 1, during her injury-plagued freshman year. Syracuse is coached by Luke Jensen, who won the French Open men's doubles title with his brother, Murphy, 20 years ago. The Orange coach, who was known as "Dual Hand Luke" because he's ambidextrous, teaches his players to hit with each hand.

Sac State sweeps Big Sky crowns

The Sacramento State women's tennis team won its 11th straight Big Sky
Conference Tournament title Sunday. Kneeling (from left) are head coach
Dima Hrynashka and assistant coach Gergana Avramova-Hunt. Standing
(from left) are Chyna Brown, Jessica Eung, Andrea Gomez Carus, Katharina
Knoebl, Maria Meliuk, Sophie Lohscheidt, Clarisse Baca, Rebeca Delgado
and Tatsiana Kapshai.

   To no one's surprise, the Sacramento State men and women won Big Sky Conference championships Sunday at the Gold River Racquet Club.
   The only surprise was the ease of the men's victory.
   Both teams rolled to 4-0 victories over Montana to earn automatic berths in next month's NCAA Tournament. The top-seeded Sac State women won their 11th straight Big Sky Tournament title and the second-seeded men their fourth. The women also extended their conference win streak to 92 matches.

Sacramento State junior Aliaksandr Malko beat
Montana's Carl Kuschke 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1 singles
in the Big Sky Conference Tournament final.

   The Hornets men avenged a 4-3 loss at Montana during the regular-season that snapped their conference win streak at 24 matches.
   Of Sunday's combined six singles matches and two doubles sets, only men's No. 2 doubles was competitive. Sac State freshmen Sean Kolor of Del Oro High School in Loomis and Tom Miller defeated Michael Facey of Cameron Park and Ethan Vaughn 8-6.
   The Sac State men (11-12) received singles victories from No. 1 Aliaksandr Malko, No. 3 Javier Millan and No. 6 Miller against top-seeded Montana (16-5). Cruising to singles wins for the Hornets women (17-9) against the third-seeded Grizzlies (14-8) were No. 1 Tatsiana Kapshai, No. 3 Clarisse Baca and No. 5 Maria Meliuk.  
    Montana's Heather Davidson, from Rocklin, lost at No. 1 singles and doubles.
   Stanford women top Cal -- Stanford's Nicole Gibbs beat reigning NCAA champion Jana Juricova as the No. 5 Cardinal women beat No. 10 Cal 4-3 Saturday at Stanford.
   The fourth-ranked Gibbs, an NCAA semifinalist as a freshman last year, downed the sixth-ranked Juricova, a senior, 7-6 (2), 6-2 at No. 1 singles.
   Stanford (17-1, 8-1 Pacific-12 Conference) will end its regular-season Wednesday in Ojai, where the Pac-12 Championships begin the next day, against Washington State in the makeup of a rained-out match. With a victory, the Cardinal can tie USC for the conference title. Cal (17-6, 8-2) tied UCLA for third place.
   ATP World Tour in Monte Carlo, Monaco -- Top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan, ex-Stanford All-Americans, earned their second straight Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters trophy and third overall with a 6-2, 6-3 victory on clay over second-seeded Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor.
    It was the Bryan twins' 20th career title in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, the highest level outside of the Grand Slams.
   Meanwhile, Mardy Fish of the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis returned to No. 1 in the United States after one week. Fish rose one notch to No. 9 in this week's world rankings, and John Isner dropped two places to No. 11. Both were off last week.
   Men's Challenger in Sarasota, Fla. -- No. 6 seed Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native living in Las Vegas, topped No. 5 Paolo Lorenzi of Italy 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-3 to win the $50,000 Sarasota Challenger on clay.
   It was the first singles title for Querrey, a right-hander who underwent surgery on his right elbow last June, since Los Angeles on the ATP World Tour in July 2010.  
   Women's Challenger in Dothan, Ala. -- Unseeded Eugenie Bouchard of Canada and Jessica Pegula of Boca Raton, Fla., nipped American wild cards Irina Falconi and CoCo Vandeweghe, a member of the
Capitals, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 10-7 tiebreak in the semifinals of the $50,000 Dothan Pro Classic.
   Bouchard and Pegula, 18-year-olds born one day apart, then edged top-seeded Sharon Fichman and Marie-Eve Pelletier, both of Canada, 6-4, 4-6, 10-5 tiebreak for the title. 

THIS WEEK'S TV SCHEDULE

(All times PDT)

   Thursday -- Barcelona (men), early rounds, Tennis Channel, 4:30-10:30 a.m. (live), 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (repeat), 4 p.m.-midnight (repeat).

   Friday -- Barcelona (men), quarterfinals, Tennis Channel, 3:30-9:30 a.m. (live), 7:30-11:30 p.m. (repeat); Stuttgart (women), quarterfinals, Tennis Channel, 11:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. (delay).

   Saturday -- Stuttgart (women), semifinals, Tennis Channel, 5-7 a.m. (live), 7-10 a.m. (repeat), 9:30-11:30 a.m. (live), 8:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. (repeat); Barcelona (men), semifinals, Tennis Channel, 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (delay); Bucharest (men), semifinals, Tennis Channel, 4:30-8:30 p.m. (delay). 

   Sunday -- Barcelona (men), final, Tennis Channel, 7-9:30 a.m. (live), 5-7:30 p.m. (repeat); Stuttgart (women), final, Tennis Channel, 9:30-11:30 a.m. (live), 1:30-3:30 p.m. (repeat), 7:30-9:30 p.m. (repeat); Bucharest (men), final, Tennis Channel, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (delay).

   CALENDAR

   Wednesday-Saturday -- Pacific-12 Conference Men's Championships, Ojai.

   Thursday-Sunday -- Pacific-12 Conference Women's Championships, Ojai; Big West Conference Women's Championships, Indian Wells.

   Friday-Sunday -- Big West Conference Men's Championships, Indian Wells.

   Friday-April 30 -- USTA National Men's, Women's and Mixed 30's Indoor Championships, Spare Time Indoor Tennis Center, 11205 Pyrites Way, Gold River, Calif. (Sacramento area).