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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Junior Irene Riva capped off an unbeaten 4-0 week by earning Big Sky Conference Player of the Week laurels on Wednesday, helping the No. 66 Sacramento State women’s tennis team to wins over Cal State Fullerton and league rival Northern Arizona last week.
The award is Riva’s second of the season and the fourth by a Hornet this year along with teammates Lou Baudouin (Feb. 11) and Reese Walker (Feb. 25). The four awards are the most by any Big Sky school this season while Riva collected the fifth of her career, tying her for fifth on the program’s all-time list with former teammate Mayya Gorbunova (2023-24) and Tatsiana Kapshai (2010-12).
Alongside partner Palina Saulevich, Riva posted a pair of doubles wins to start each match, clinching the doubles point against the Titans with a 7-5 win at No. 1, then followed that up with a tiebreaker victory against the Lumberjacks to help Sacramento State sweep the doubles point for only the second time this season — the first since the regular season opener.
In singles, Riva extended her personal winning streak to five straight matches with a pair of straight set wins at the No. 3 spot in the lineup. Her win over Fullerton’s Amelia Zylberman clinched the 4-2 win over the Titans and she added another straight set win over NAU’s Andrea Noguera to close out the weekend.
With victories in their last five consecutive duals, the Hornets hit the road for the second time in conference play this weekend, traveling to the Pacific Northwest to take on Eastern Washington on Friday (March 20) at 11 a.m., and Idaho on Sunday (March 22) at 10 a.m.