Schedule

WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State women's tennis head coach Colin Foster has announced the 2016-17 schedule for the fall and spring seasons.

The Shockers - winners of eight consecutive Missouri Valley Conference championships - have loaded up a tough non-conference schedule in the spring, as they will face off against ten schools that finished last season ranked, according to the Oracle/ITA National College Rankings. Wichita State finished with a #30 ranking last year.

WSU had four All-Conference players depart, but are led by the returning Valley Player of the Year Gabriela Porubin and All-Conference selection Giulia Guidetti. Foster prepares to enter his eighth season as head coach of the Shockers. During his tenure, Foster won the MVC Coach of the Year award in each of his seven years.

Wichita State will travel to various tournaments in the fall and winter: the Drake Invite this week on Sept. 16-18 in Des Moines, Iowa, the Sooner Fall Invitational on Sept. 30-Oct. 2 in Norman, Okla., the ITA All-Americans on Sept. 30 - Oct. 9 in Pacific Palisades, Calif., the MVC Individual Championships on Oct. 8-10 in Evansville, Ind., the Oracle/ITA Masters on Oct. 13-16 in Malibu, Calif., the ITA Regionals on Oct. 13-17 in Minneapolis, Minn., the SMU Red & Blue Challenge on Nov. 4-6 in Dallas, Texas and the National Collegiate Tennis Classic on Jan. 14-16 in Palm Springs, Calif.

In the spring, WSU will host #33 Kansas on Feb. 17, #53 South Alabama on Feb. 24 and #15 Texas Tech on March 8, with all three matches at the Wichita Country Club. WSU will go on the road for non-conference matches against: No. 31 TCU, who eliminated the Shockers from postseason play last year, No. 65 Missouri, No. 57 Cornell, No. 36 Arkansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, No. 75 U-Texas at Arlington, SMU, No. 73 North Texas, Kansas State and No. 20 Texas. TCU defeated WSU in the first round of the Regionals by a score of 4-3, bringing the Shockers' season to a close with a record of 27-4.

"Once again we have a challenging fall tournament and non-conference schedule that will give our ladies numerous opportunities to test their games against some of the best competition in college tennis," said Foster. "While the quantity of home matches is not as numerous as in years past, I am excited about the quality of opponents visiting Wichita.  South Alabama was the Sun Belt runners-up last year, and Texas Tech and Kansas both tied for second in the Big 12, with Texas Tech reaching the Sweet 16. Those opportunities will prepare us well to defend our MVC championship, and hopefully have another strong showing in the NCAA tournament."

WSU went 7-0 in regular season conference play, and went on to sweep Evansville, Bradley and Southern Illinois in the 2016 MVC Women's Championship for their conference-leading 17th Valley title in program history, nine ahead of Drake. It was also the seventh-straight title under Foster.

The 2017 MVC Championship will be held on April 28-30 in Normal, Ill., and will be hosted by Illinois State. Should the Shockers advance to postseason play, the first and second rounds of NCAA Regionals will be on May 12-14. The Individual and Team Championships will be on May 19-29 in Athens, Ga.