Montana State (13-10, 5-3) will open the league tournament on Friday at 11 a.m. against No. 5 Weber State. The winner of the match will most likely face No. 1 Sacramento State (17-6, 8-0) on Saturday morning.
On Thursday, the Hornets opened the contest winning all three doubles matches. Sacramento State sealed the team victory with wins at No. 3, 5, and 6 singles, all in straight sets.
Two of the best matches of the afternoon came at the top two spots, as nationally ranked Kiryl Harbatsiuk held on for a 6-1, 6-7, 6-3 win over Corey Smith. At No. 2 singles, Sacramento's Jason Smith rallied from a 6-7 deficit in the opening set, winning 7-6, 3-0 in the final stanzas over Jakub Dybala. Dybala, a senior from Lodz, Poland, had to retired trailing 3-0 due to cramping.
MSU sophomore Fletcher Keyes saw his six-match win streak come to an end in a 7-6, 6-2 loss to Marko Starcevic at No. 4 singles.
"I thought our guys competed hard and that's the mind-set we need to have heading into the opening round of the Big Sky Tournament," said MSU men's coach Mike Phillips. "The guys are focused and we'll see what happens. Weber State is a very good team."
Weber State defeated Montana State 5-2 earlier this season.
Sacramento State 7, Montana State 0
Singles: 1. HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SAC) def. SMITH, Corey 6-1, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3; 2. SMITH, Jason (SAC) def. DYBALA, Jakub 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3), 0-0 (3-0), retired; 3. STRYHAS, Anton (SAC) def. TURZANSKI, Pawel 6-0, 6-1; 4. STARCEVIC, Marko (SAC) def. KEYES, Fletcher 7-6 (7-4), 6-2; 5. CHING, Holden (SAC) def. FUENTES, Alberto 6-1, 6-2; 6. KLIMENKA, Artur (SAC) def. FERRERO, Esteban 6-1, 6-4. Doubles: 1. STRYHAS, Anton/HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SAC) def. DYBALA, Jakub/ TURZANSKI, Pawel 8-1; 2. CHING, Holden/STARCEVIC, Marko (SAC) def. SMITH, Corey/KEYES, Fletcher 8-4; 3. KLIMENKA, Artur/SMITH, Jason (SAC) def. FUENTES, Alberto/PERKINS, Myles 8-2.