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WICHITA, Kan. – No. 30 Wichita State looks to get back in the win column this weekend when they travel to Missouri to take on the No. 49-ranked Tigers, Friday, Feb. 23 in Columbia, Mo. The Shockers will return home for a matchup with Colorado on Sunday, Feb. 25 at the Wichita Country Club.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Shockers split a pair of matches last weekend at the Dillon Tennis Center in Lincoln, Neb. WSU recorded its eighth victory of the season, knocking off Wyoming (4-0). Wichita State saw victories in the second, fourth, and sixth flights as well as the doubles point victory. WSU's rally fell short to the Huskers, losing a 4-3 match that went to the wire. After winning the doubles point, Nebraska jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Vasanti Shinde took down Sandra Honigova (6-4, 6-1). Senior Giulia Guidetti got the Shockers back on track in the third flight, taking down Paula Castillo (6-3, 7-6). The Shockers and Huskers traded games before seeing the match tied at three. In the end, Katerina Matysova defeated Marta Bellucco in three sets (3-6, 7-5, 6-3) to give Nebraska the match.

POWER 6
In the ITA/Oracle Team Rankings that came out Feb. 20, six of the 11 opponents the Shockers have faced this season are in the top-50. Wichita State has a 3-3 record against the six, with wins over FIU (now No. 37), (RV) Arkansas (now No. 38), and Old Dominion (now No. 40). The three losses were against No. 8 Texas Tech, North Carolina State (now No. 37), and Nebraska (now No. 42).
 
YET AGAIN
The Shockers make an appearance in ITA National Team Rankings for the 12th-straight season, coming in at No. 30 (Feb. 20 poll). The Shockers were last ranked inside the top-30 for 11-straight weeks in the 2015-16 season. Prior to that, the Shockers were only ranked four times inside the top-30 since the 2006-07 season.
 
SHOCKER SUMMARY
Wichita State is 8-3 to start the 2018 campaign, with losses to No. 8 Texas Tech (4-0), NC State (4-3) and Nebraska (4-3).  The Shockers have picked up victories over Stephen F. Austin (7-0), SMU (5-2), FIU (4-2), UT-Arlington (4-0), UMKC (4-0), (RV)Arkansas (4-1) , Old Dominion (4-2) and Wyoming (4-0). The Shockers are led by sophomore Fatima Bizhukova (5-1, 1st/2nd flight) and junior Sandra Honigova (8-1, 2nd/3rd/4th flight). Sophomore Marta Bellucco is 4-1 in the fifth flight, and senior Gabriela Porubin is 5-3 in dual action in both third and fourth flights. Senior Giulia Guidetti, is 6-3 in singles(1-0 1st/3-2 2nd/2-1 3rd) Guidetti and sophomore Ting-Ya Hsu are 5-0 in doubles action in the third flight.
 
AMERICAN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Wichita State's Fatima Bizhukova was named the American Conference Player of the Week for the week Jan. 22-28. The award was the first ever for the Shockers in the American conference (women's tennis). A week later, Sandra Honigova was named Player of the Week Jan. 29-Feb. 4.
 
ONE TWO PUNCH
Two Shockers are ranked in the Feb. 20 ITA/Oracle Singles Rankings . Bizhukova, who is 5-1 in the first flight (11-6 overall) ranks No. 71 for the Shockers. Junior Sandra Honigova joins her at No. 106 after starting the season 8-1, in the 2nd/3rd/4th flight. Honigova has victories over No. 61 Claudia Wiktorin of NC State in Wichita State's home opener Feb. 2, and No. 67 Ana Oparenovic Feb. 10 at Arkansas.
 
NEW CONFERENCE, SAME GOALS
The Shockers join the American Athletic Conference after a successful tenure in the Missouri Valley Conference. Conference opponents are played during the season, however; they do not count as conference games. The conference action begins at the SMU Tennis Complex, Apr. 18-21 at The American Championship in Dallas. Ninth-year head coach Colin Foster has the same goals in The American as he did in the Missouri Valley, where he never lost a conference match in eight seasons (78-0) including conference tournaments.
 
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Colin Foster on move from Missouri Valley to American Athletic conference and playing in American Championship:
"Our goal is to win every match. That goal doesn't change from the Missouri Valley to the American. We know that the competition is tougher and the challenge is going to be bigger. That doesn't change our goals. If we would have lost a match in the Missouri Valley, then so be it. If we lose a match in the American Tournament….that's part of sports. We're certainly excited and confident that we can go in there and play with any team in this league. "
 
UPSET ALERT
Sophomore Fatima Bizhukova knocked off No. 3 Andrea Lazaro of FIU in straight sets (6-1, 6-2) leading the Shockers past FIU in the opening round of ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Lubbock , Jan. 26. The sophomore from Russia had No. 5 Gabriela Talaba of Texas Tech on the ropes the following day, leading 6-2, 5-2 before the match went unfinished.

ON THE TIGERS
Mizzou is 10-1 to start the 2018 campaign, and come into the match with a No. 49 ITA National Team Ranking.  The Tigers have wins over SEMO (5-0), Central Arkansas (6-1), Cornell (4-2), Army (4-0), Binghamton (4-0), Radford (4-0), Tulane (4-1), South Dakota State (5-0), Minnesota (4-3) and Memphis (4-2). The Tigers have a combined 35-12 record in dual action. Mackenz Middlebrooks is 8-0 in the third and fourth flights, Ellie Wright, is 7-2 in second and third flights, and Taylor Gruber and Amina Ismail are 5-1. The tandem of Middlebrooks and Wright are 9-1 in doubles, all in the third flight.  Colt Gaston, who is in his second season with Missouri, led the Tigers to an 11-14 record in 2016-17, as well as sending Ismail and Santos to the 2017 NCAA Doubles Tournament. The duo reached as high as No. 10 in ITA Doubles Rankings.

All-Time
Missouri and Wichita State meet for the 17th time in school history, with the Shocker holding the lead, 11-5. Last season when the two met, WSU came away victorious (4-2) over the Tigers.

ON THE BUFFS
Colorado is off to a 5-1 start, with wins over Colorado State (4-3), Northern Colorado (7-0), Air Force (4-3), Sacramento State (7-0) and Boise State (4-3). Their lone loss came to Kansas State (4-1). Linda Huang leads the Buffs in singles action. Huang is 4-1 in flight one, 1-0 in flight two and comes into the weekend ranked No. 109 in the latest ITA National Singles Rankings. Brigitte Beck and Chloe Hule are 6-0 as a doubles tandem, primarily in the second flight.

All-Time
This will be just the seventh matchup between the two schools. Colorado leads the series 5-1. The two last met in 2015 at the Wichita Country Club. The Shockers won 5-2.
 
FALL BALL
Bizhukova, who ranked No. 102 in Preseason Rankings, led all singles players in the fall, compiling a 7-5 record in tournament play.  Bizhukova had two top-100 victories to her name.  Bizhukova felt that she had areas to improve from her fall season,  "My fall season was not very good, I was thinking too much about the ranking. I was trying to win all my matches. But now, I feel that you have to win, but if you enjoy it you will win for sure."

Sophomore Marta Bellucco went 6-3 in the fall season, and and Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva finished 5-3.
In doubles, Senior Gabriela Porubin and Bizhukova, who ranked No. 16 in Fall Rankings, went 7-3 with wins over two top-50 tandems.
 
RETURNERS
Seniors Giulia Guidetti and Gabriela Porubin lead a group of five returners from a season ago.  The senior tandem is in the top-20 for singles wins in school history. (Guidetti, 79. Porubin, 77). Along with Bizhukova, sophomores Bellucco and Ting-Ya Hsu are among the returners. Junior Sandra Honigova returns to the court after sitting out last season. (transferred from FIU in 2015-16).
 
NEW FACES
The Shockers welcomed two newcomers to the 2017-18 squad. Sophomore Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva comes to WSU from Uzbekistan, where she began play for the Shockers in the fall. Saidhujaeva went 5-3 in fall play, and is 6-4 in dual play, with matches in third, fifth and sixth flight.  Freshman Alexandra Lazarova joined the Shockers in the fall, and compiled a 6-6 record in tournament action. Lazarova, from Slovakia, is 2-1 in dual matches all in the sixth flight.
 
NEXT STOP:
The Shockers travel to Lawrence to take on Kansas, Friday, Mar. 2 at 5 p.m. at the Jayhawk Tennis Center. The Jayhawks are ranked No. 15 in ITA Team Rankings.