OMAHA, Neb. -- The Wichita State men's and women's tennis matches each earned a berth in the championship match with semi-final wins in the 2008 State Farm Missouri Valley Tennis Championship Saturday in Omaha, Neb. The Shocker men staved off Indiana State for a 4-2 win, while the Shocker women cruised to a 4-0 win over Illinois State.

MEN-Wichita State 4, Indiana State 2
Indiana State gave WSU all it could handle in the men's semi-final match at the Hanscom Indoor Tennis Center, but the Shockers held on for the 4-2 win. WSU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, taking two of three tightly-contested doubles matches from the Sycamores. Thiago Dos Santos and Albert Ballesta opened play with an 8-2 win over Indiana State's Jon Sigurrdson and Josh Smith in the No. 2 match. Indiana State countered with a win of their own at No. 1 doubles, when Rishi Behl and Mpiloenhle Migogo defeated WSU's Tiago Espirito Santo and Matt Teivians, 8-6, but Wichita State clinched the point in the No. 3 match when Jonathan Obrist and Kevin Gardner handed Indiana State's Anton Tsymbalov and Michael Wenham an 8-6 loss in the No. 3 match.

Thiago Dos Santos increased the Shockers' lead to 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Mpiloenhle Migogo in the No. 3 match, but the Sycamores would not fall quietly. Indiana State's Rishi Behl countered the Dos Santos win by defeating Albert Ballesta 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 2 match. Indiana State then tied the match at 2-2 when Anton Tsymbalov won a three-set decision over Tiago Espirito Santo, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. The Shockers fired right back, however. Jonathan Obrist won a three-set thriller over Jon Sigurddson, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 to win the No. 4 match, and Adrian Chermaci secured the Shocker win with a 6-4, 6-1 win in the No. 5 match over Sycamore foe Josh Smith.

The No. 6 match went unfinished as the match had already been decided. At the time the match was called, Indiana State's Michael Wenham held a 4-3 lead over WSU's Matt Teivans in the first set.

With the win, the Shockers improve to 19-4, and will take on undefeated, and 50th-ranked Drake for the Missouri Valley Title Sunday at noon Drake defeated Southern Illinois 4-2 in Saturday's semi-final action.

WOMEN-Wichita State 4, Illinois State 0
In the first outdoor match of the tournament, the Wichita State women punched their ticket to Sunday's championship game with a 4-0 shutout win over Illinois State Saturday afternoon at the Koch Family Tennis Complex. The Shockers swept the doubles compeition, and never looked back en route to the 4-0 win.

Anna Egorova and Lenore Lazaroiu opened doubles play with an 8-3 win over Julia Zubkova and Carolyne Parent in the No. 2 match, while Stephanie Dalmacio and Laryssa Ferreira secured the doubles point with a 9-8 (7-4) win over Veronique Parke-Bedard and Katri Miller in the No. 1 match. With the doubles point already decided, the No. 3 match was unfinished with WSU's Torrie Browning and Florentina Hanisch leading Illinois State's Katie O'Riley and Tanja Hrovatic, 5-4.

Singles play belonged solely to the Shockers. Stephanie Dalmacio opened the singles competition with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Illinois State's Katri Miller in the No. 1 match. Anna Egorova followed with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Veronique Parke-Bedard in the No. 3 match, and Laryssa Ferreira completed the Shocker by defeating Redbird foe Katie O'Riley, 7-5, 6-1 in the No. 6 match.

With the win, the Shockers improve to 16-7 on the season. They will face the winner of Saturday's semi-final match between Northern Iowa and Indiana State. The match was moved indoors due to rain with Indiana State leading 1-0, and has yet to be completed. Sunday's Championship match will begin at noon, and is scheduled to be played at the Koch Outdoor Tennis Complex.

--Wichita State--