WICHITA, Kan. – No. 21 Wichita State heads northeast for a top-25 matchup with No. 20 Kansas on Friday at 5 p.m., followed by a 1 p.m. dual with Gonzaga on Saturday at the Jayhawk Tennis Center in Lawrence.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Shockers hit the 10-win mark, earning two victories on Feb. 23 and Feb. 25 against No. 49 Mizzou and Colorado on the road and at home; respectively. WSU won a 4-3 thriller in Columbia over the Tigers on Friday. Giulia Guidetti and Ting-Ya Hsu won in flight two (6-4) to remain perfect on the season, and Bellucco and Bizhukova teamed up to take down Serena Nash and Clare Raley (7-5) giving the Shockers the doubles point. No. 106 ranked Sandra Honigova did quick work of Marta Oliveira (6-1, 6-1) and No. 71 Faitma Bizhukova followed suit with a straight set victory in the top flight(6-3, 6-4) to give the Shockers a 3-0 lead. The Tigers clawed back to tie it at three, before Marta Bellucco pulled out a three-set thriller in a tiebreaker, giving the Wichita State the victory. Honigova led the Shockers to a sweep of Colorado on Sunday, taking down No. 109 Linda Huang, in her debut in flight one.
 
POWER SCHEDULE
In the ITA/Oracle Team Rankings that came out Feb. 27, six of the 13 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. 38), (RV) Arkansas (now No. 27), and Old Dominion (now No. 35). The three losses were against No. 8 Texas Tech, North Carolina State (now No. 39), and Nebraska (now No. 29). Mizzou was ranked No. 49 when the Shockers beat them, before dropping out of the top-50. The remaining schedule for the Shockers fares to be a good one. Out of the 10 remaining opponents on the schedule, five are ranked in the top-50. (Oklahoma State (19), Kansas (20), Kansas State (28), UCF (36), Tulsa (41)).
 
ON THE JAYHAWKS
WSU and KU meet for the 29th time in school history. Kansas holds a 17-11 advantage, with the Jayhawks winning the last matchup, 5-2 at the Sheldon Coleman Tennis Complex in Wichita. Current head coach Colin Foster is 3-1 against the Jayhawks, last winning in 2015-16 at Kansas, 5-2. Kansas comes into the match with a National Team Ranking of 21, sporting a 5-3 record. Their wins came against No. 18 Arkansas, No. 24 Oregon, Purdue, William and Mary and North Carolina State. No. 10 Michigan, No. 14 Ohio State and No. 38 Arkansas are their lone losses. No. 1 ranked Anastasia Rychagova leads the Jayhawks with a 5-0 record in the first flight. Despoina Vogasari sports a No. 77 ranking for the Jayhawks in both first and second flights.Todd Chapman is in his fifth year at the helm of a squad that went 13-11 (4-5) in the Big 12 a season ago.
 
ON GONZAGA
The meeting between the Zags and Shockers will be the first in school history. Gonzaga comes into the weekend with an 8-2 record with wins over Brown, UNLV, Idaho, Seattle, Montana, Eastern Washington and BYU. Their losses are by No. 10 Michigan and Arizona State.  The tandem of Sophie Whittle and Graciela Rosas are 5-0 in number one doubles, good enough for a No. 47 National Ranking. The group is a combined 35-12 in singles action, with Sophie Whittle leading the way with a 6-2 mark in flight one. The Zags are coming off a 17-4 (7-2 in WCC) record a season ago and are led by D.J. Gurule in his 14th season.
 
FUN BITS
 - The last time WSU took down a top-20 opponent was on Mar. 5, 2016. The Shockers, then ranked No.  13, rolled over No. 18 Tulsa, 5-2 in Tulsa.
 - The last time the Shockers beat KU was on Feb. 26, 2016 (5-2 at Kansas). WSU was ranked No. 21, the same ranking they hold today. Kansas was ranked No. 23. (No. 20 currently).
- KU's Anastasia Rychagova is the No. 1 ranked player in singles, according to Oracle/ITA Rankings. She is undefeated (5-0) and split a pair of matches in the fall with No. 2 ranked Andrea Lazaro of FIU. WSU's Fatima Bizhukova, who ranks No. 71, knocked off then No. 3 ranked Lazaro earlier in the season in straight sets.
-Bizhukova and Rychagova are both from Russia, and are good friends. They are probable to meet up in the first flight Friday for their first ever meeting at the collegiate level.
-In nine seasons as head coach, Colin Foster has started the season 10-3 or better only twice before. (2015-16, 10-3, 2014-15, 11-2)
 
YET AGAIN
The Shockers make an appearance in ITA National Team Rankings for the 12th-straight season.
Feb. 20 Poll- No. 30- 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.
Feb. 27 Poll- No. 21- it is the first time the Shockers have been inside the top-25 since Mar. 2016 when they reached No. 20.
 
 SHOCKER SUMMARY
Wichita State is 10-3 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) Wyoming (4-0), No. 49 Mizzou(4-3), and Colorado (7-0).  The Shockers are led by sophomore Fatima Bizhukova (6-1, 1st/2nd flight) and junior Sandra Honigova (10-1, 1st/2nd/3rd/4th flight). Sophomore Marta Bellucco is 6-1 in the fifth flight, and senior Gabriela Porubin is 6-4 in dual action in both third and fourth flights. Senior Giulia Guidetti, is 7-4 in singles(1-0 1st/3-2 2nd/ 2-1 3rd) Guidetti and sophomore Ting-Ya Hsu are 7-0 in doubles action in the second and third flight.
 
AMERICAN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Wichita State's Fatima Bizhukova was named the American Conference Player of the Week for the week ending Jan. 28. The award was the first ever for the Shockers in the American conference (women's tennis).Sandra Honigova has been named American Conference Player of the Week twice this season. (Feb. 4., Feb. 26)
 
ONE TWO PUNCH
Two Shockers are ranked in the Feb. 20 ITA/Oracle Singles Rankings . Bizhukova, who is 6-1 in the first flight (13-6 overall) ranks No. 71 for the Shockers. Junior Sandra Honigova joins her at No. 106 after starting the season 10-1. Honigova has victories over No. 61 Claudia Wiktorin of NC State in Wichita State's home opener Feb. 2,  No. 67 Ana Oparenovic Feb. 10 at Arkansas, and No. 109 Linda Huang of Colorado Feb. 25.
 
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.

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 7-5 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 3-1 in dual matches all in the sixth flight.
 
NEXT STOP:
The Shockers travel to Manao, Hawaii to take on the Rainbow Warriors, Wednesday Mar. 7 for just the second time in school history. The match is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. (HST).