WICHITA, Kan. -- The No. 48 ranked Wichita State women's tennis team seeks to add on to their 80-match MVC win streak this weekend with a pair of road matches. First, WSU will head to Carbondale, Ill. to face Southern Illinois on Sat., March 25 at 2 p.m. on the SIU University Courts. Wichita State will then travel to Evansville, Ind. to play Evansville on Sun., March 26 at 9 a.m. at Wesselman Park.
The Shockers (7-7) are currently ranked No. 48 in the Oracle/ITA national rankings after coming off a pair of wins in Texas, defeating North Texas 4-3 on March 12 and then-No. 42 SMU 5-2 on March 10.
Giulia Guidetti is the lone ranked Shocker, coming in ranked No. 120 in singles play this week.
Fatima Bizhukova has been playing well lately, having won seven of her last 10 contests. She is now the fifth Shocker this year to reach double-digit wins in singles play, and won the MVC Women's Tennis Player of the Week award on March 14.
Southern Illinois (6-8) enters the match having dropped four of their last six, but are 4-1 in home duals this year. SIU does not feature any ranked players. The Salukis will be seeking revenge, having finished second in MVC play last season with the only loss coming to WSU.
Evansville (10-10) has won their last two matches over IUPUI and Wright State by a combined score of 10-2. The Purple Aces are also 4-1 at home so far this season. Evansville has no ranked players, but are led by Diane Tkachenko, who is 15-4 this year. Andrea Pascual-Larri also has double-digit wins for UE, carrying an 11-6 record into Sunday.
Last year, WSU swept Southern Illinois in both the regular season finale and in the championship match of the MVC Championships. The Shockers also swept Evansville in the regular season, and in the opening round of the Championships.
Looking Ahead:
Wichita State returns to Kansas, but not to Wichita, as the team will go to Manhattan on April 1 to challenge Kansas State.
