WICHITA - No. 74 Wichita State's women's tennis team tore through the Missouri Valley Conference season undefeated for the second-straight year as the Shockers finished the regular season with a win against Evansville on senior day, 6-1.
Led by a trio of seniors who all appear on the list of the Shockers' Top-10 singles wins, Wichita State (12-10, 7-0) locked up its No. 1 seed status heading into the State Farm MVC Tournament.
"Today was a special day for Shocker tennis - sending off our three seniors," Associate Head Coach Courtney Steinbock said. "All three of them performed very well today under all of the senior day pressures."
Fittingly, doubles play was led by the seniors. The senior tandem of Florentina Hanisch and Lenore Lazaroiu paved the way in the quest for the doubles point. The pair defeated Ashton Schwerin and Pin Sorensen in the No. 2 match, 8-0. Fellow senior and doubles partner Lutfiana Budiharto took down Kate Chybowski and Theadora Kotsiou to clinch the point, 8-3.
Carolyn Caire and Aleksandra Dzakula claimed the only doubles win for the Aces (11-7, 3-4). Shocker sophomores Lily Wakim and Delia Damaschin battled their way back into the No. 3 match but could hold off the aces and fell, 8-6.
The Shockers continued to roll right through singles play, moving to a 3-0 lead without dropping a game in singles.
Damaschin worked quickly and efficiently through the No. 4 match to defeat Sorensen, 6-0, 6-0. Hanisch mirrored her effort against Dzakula in the No. 5 spot and won, 6-0, 6-0.
The Purple Aces got on the board when Carolyn Caire topped the Shockers' Iasmine Carpen in the No. 6 position, 6-0, 6-2.
Dalmacio clinched the win, rolling past Kotsiou at the No. 2 position, 6-1, 6-2.
No. 48 Budiharto handed Chybowski just her second loss of the spring, dropping her in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2 at the top spot. The final match rested on the shoulders of Shocker senior Lenore Lazaroiu - and she responded. After taking the first set from Schwerin, Lazaroiu fell in the second to force a match-deciding tie breaker. Lazaroiu buckled down to win, 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (11-9) to make the senior class 3-for-3 on senior day.
"Those three have changed and shaped this program so much for the better," Steinbock said. "But we're not done, we're so ready for them to lead us in the postseason, too."
The Shockers will enter the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference tournament as the No. 1 seed after a flawless 7-0 conference season. The seedings and first-round match ups will be posted to GoShockers.com as soon as they are available. The first round is set to start at 10 a.m. on Friday, April 23.
Singles Results
1. No. 48 Lutfiana Budiharto (WSU) def. Kate Chybowski (UE), 6-3, 6-2
2. Stephanie Dalmacio (WSU) def. Theaora Kotsiou (UE), 6-1, 6-2
3. Lenore Lazaroiu (WSU) def. Ashton Schwerin (UE), 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (9)
4. Delia Damaschin (WSU) def. Pin Sorensen (UE), 6-0, 6-0
5. Florentina Hanisch (WSU) def. Aleksandra Dzakula (UE), 6-0, 6-0
6. Carolyn Caire (UE) def. Iasmine Carpen (WSU), 6-0, 6-2
Doubles Results
1. Budiharto/Dalmacio (WSU) def. Chybowski/Kotsiou (UE), 8-3
2. Hanisch/Lazaroiu (WSU) def. Schwerin/Sorensen (UE), 8-0
3. Caire/Dzakula (UE) def. Wakim/Damaschin (WSU), 8-6
-Wichita State-
