WICHITA, Kan. – The 27th-ranked Wichita State women's tennis team takes a 13-4 record to Tulsa for a 'Havoc in the Heartland' feud with the Golden Hurricane tomorrow at 2 p.m. at the Case Tennis Center.
 
LAST TIME OUT
84th-ranked Fatima Bizhukova and 102nd ranked Sandra Honigova help lead the Shockers past North Texas last Saturday, coming away with a 4-2 win over the Mean Green in a neutral location in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The former defeated No. 43 ranked Maria Kononova, (6-4, 6-1) with the latter taking down Tamuna Kutubidze. Giulia Guidetti and Marta Bellucco rounded off the victory for the Shockers, with wins in the third and fourth flights.
 
POWER SCHEDULE
In the ITA/Oracle Team Rankings that came out Mar. 6, seven of the 15 opponents the Shockers have faced this season are in the top-50. Wichita State has a 3-4 record against the six, with wins over FIU (now No. 38), (RV) Arkansas (now No. 33), and Old Dominion (now No. 45). The three losses were against No. 8 Texas Tech, North Carolina State (now No. 39), and Nebraska (now No. 21). 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 nine remaining opponents on the schedule, four are ranked in the top-50. (Oklahoma State (20, Kansas State (31), UCF (25), Tulsa (26).
 
SCOUTING TULSA
The Golden Hurricane come into the match sporting a 13-3 record and a National Ranking of 32. Tulsa has wins over Arkansas Pine Bluff (Twice), Oral Roberts (Twice), Brown, Louisville, No. 16 Baylor, Purdue, USF, Oklahoma and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Their three losses came by No. 18 Arkansas, No. 10 Michigan and No. 15 Kansas. No. 71 Ksenia Laskutova leads the Golden Hurricane with a 12-3 record, primarily in the first flight. Martina Okalova comes in 97th in the latest ITA/Oracle Singles Rankings, and has a 10-2 record mainly in the second flight.  Laskutova and Martha Matoula lead doubles action, with a 10-3 dual record, all in flight one. The Golden Hurrican have won eight of their last nine, with the lone loss coming to No. 15 Kansas along the way.
 
'HAVOC IN THE HEARTLAND'
The University of Tulsa and Wichita State University have announced the creation of a rivalry series competition that will span 13 varsity sports.

Points will be awarded for head-to-head regular-season victories in volleyball, basketball and softball or a higher finish at conference championships in cross country, tennis, track & field and women's golf. A trophy will be awarded to the school with the most points at the end of each academic year.

With 66 points being awarded, the official tiebreaker for the rivalry series will be the annual Graduation Success Rate, which is announced by the NCAA each year.

Women's Tennis – 6 points
6 points to head-to-head winner or higher finish at AAC Championship
 
Wichita State currently leads the series 24-18 over the Golden Hurricane.
(WSU, six points men's basketball, three points women's basketball, six points volleyball, six points men's tennis, three points men's track and field)
Tulsa, three points volleyball, 12 points men's and women's cross country, three points indoor track and field)
 
 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.
 -Ninth-year head coach Colin Foster is just one win away from his 170th win with the Shockers, and ten away from moving to the top of the leaderboard in career wins at Wichita State. Les Stafford sets at 178, with Foster at 169.
- This will be the 38th meeting with the Golden Hurricane, where Wichita State holds a 23-14 advantage. The Shockers are 10-5 at home, 11-9 away and 2-0 in neutral matches against Tulsa. Foster is 3-4 against them, and the two last met Apr. 5, 2017 in Tulsa where WSU took down then No. 35 ranked Tulsa 4-3 in Tulsa.
 
 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.
Mar. 6 Poll- No. 23- Wichita State comes in at No. 23, sporting an 11-4 record.
Mar. 13 Poll – No. 27 ranked Wichita State comes into the week with a 13-4 record, and winners of two-straight.
 
SHOCKER SUMMARY
Wichita State is 13-4 to start the 2018 campaign, with losses to No. 8 Texas Tech (4-0), NC State (4-3) Nebraska (4-3), and No. 20 Kansas (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), Colorado (7-0) , Gonzaga (4-3), Hawaii (6-1) and North Texas (4-2).   The Shockers are led by sophomore Fatima Bizhukova (8-3, 1^st/2^nd flight) and junior Sandra Honigova (13-2, 1^st /2^nd/ 3^rd /4^th flight). Sophomore Marta Bellucco is 8-3 in third, fourth and fifth flight, and senior Gabriela Porubin is 9-5 in dual action in both third and fourth flights. Senior Giulia Guidetti, is 11-4 in singles(1-0 1^st/3-2 2^nd/ 2-1 3^rd) Guidetti and sophomore Ting-Ya Hsu are 9-2 in doubles action in the second and third flight. The Shockers are 59-26 collectively in singles dual play.
 
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 and most recently for the week ending Mar. 11.  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 Mar. 6 ITA/Oracle Singles Rankings . Bizhukova, who is 8-3 in the first flight (13-8 overall) ranks No. 84 for the Shockers. Junior Sandra Honigova joins her at No. 102 after starting the season 13-2, in the 1^st/2^nd/3^rd /4^th  flight. 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 7-6 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 3-3 in dual matches all in the sixth flight.
 
NEXT STOP:
Wichita State welcomes Iowa to the Sheldon Coleman Tennis Complex on Friday, Mar. 23 at 11 a.m.