WICHITA, Kan. – No. 35 Wichita State hits the road for two top-50 road matches against. The Shockers will face No. 13 Oklahoma State on Friday, March 30 at 3 p.m. in Stillwater, followed by a match with No. 44 Oklahoma at 12 p.m. on Sunday, April 1 in Norman.
MATCH INFORMATION AT NO. 13 OKLAHOMA STATE
March 30, 2018 (3 p.m.)
Head-to-head record- 4-24
Under Colin Foster- (1-5)
Home- (4-9)
Away- (0-14)
Neutral - (0-1)
Last Meeting- Jan. 30, 2016 –Oklahoma State, then ranked No. 10, dropped Wichita State 6-1 in Stillwater.
MATCH INFORMATION AT NO. 44 OKLAHOMA
April 1, 2018 (3 p.m.)
Head-to-head record- Tied 5-33
Under Colin Foster- (1-6)
Home- (2-12)
Away- (3-17)
Neutral - (0-4)
Last Meeting- March 4, 2017- Wichita State dropped the match 5-2 in Norman.
LAST TIME OUT
No. 33 Wichita State dropped Iowa, 5-2, on March 23 at the Sheldon Coleman Tennis Complex. After Guillia Guidetti and
Ting-Ya Hsu collected their 10th win in doubles play,
Fatima Bizhukova and
Marta Bellucco followed with a 6-2 win in first flight, handing WSU the doubles point. Lazarova got the nod for the seventh time this season in flight six, and dominated 6-0, 6-0, followed by a third flight win by Guidetti (6-2, 6-0). Iowa got one back in the fourth flight, before Wichita State collected two in a row in first and second flights to win the match over the Hawkeyes.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA STATE
In the Rankings:
Singles- Vladica Babic (24), Megan McCray (42), Katarina Stresnakova (87), Marina Guinart (96).
Doubles- Babic/ Sofia Blanco (16).
The Cowgirls come into the match with a 12-2 record (2-1 Big 12), winning eight of their last nine. Oklahoma State has wins over Abilene Christian, Oral Roberts, Wyoming, Arizona State, Arkansas, Florida, Miami, Pacific, UCLA, Iowa State, and West Virginia. Their two losses came to No. 23 Ole Miss and No. 8 Texas. Former Wichita State Director of Tennis Chris Young is in his eighth season as head coach at Oklahoma State.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA
In the Rankings: Singles- Lily Miyazaki (28)
Oklahoma sports a 10-7 record (2-2 Big 12), and winners of five of their last seven matches. Five of their losses are to ranked opponents. The Sooners have wins over Georgia State, Old Dominion, North Texas, Pacific, USF, No. 43 NC State, West Virginia, Iowa State, Oral Roberts (twice). No. 14 Auburn, No. 25 South Carolina, USC, No. 41 Tulsa, No. 8 Texas, and No. 28 West Virginia. Miyazaki holds a 9-3 record in flight one. Jasmine Asghar is 8-4, all in the second flight. Christiana Brigante and Asghar are 6-4 in doubles play to lead the Sooners. First-year head coach Audra Cohen leads the Sooners.
MOVING ON UP
Seniors
Giulia Guidetti and
Gabriela Porubin continue to move up in the Wichita State record books. Guidetti comes in at 12th all-time in combined doubles and singles wins with 160. Porubin, who has 184 combined wins, is sixth on the all-time list. On the singles all-time list, Guidetti sets at 91 wins, good for sixth in the record books. Sandy Sadler is first with 112. With 88 wins, Porubin is tied with Stephanie Dalmacio for eighth best. Porubin and
Rebecca Pedrazzi have 96 career doubles wins, well enough for fourth all-time. Guidetti has compiled 69 doubles wins for the Shockers. Guidetti holds the record for singles wins in a two-year span with 63, from 2015-17 and most wins in a season, where she went 39-5 in 2015-16.
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 is second in the record books for career wins, recording his 170th win at Wichita State with a win over Iowa on March 23. Les Stafford, who coached the Shockers from 1990-2004, sets atop the list with 178 career wins.
• The last time Wichita State took down Oklahoma State was Feb. 12, 2011. The Shockers won 5-2 at the Wichita Country Club.
POWER SCHEDULE
In the ITA/Oracle Team Rankings that came out Mar. 27, eight of the 19 opponents the Shockers have faced this season are in the top-50. Wichita State has a 3-5 record against the eight, with wins over FIU (now No. 37), (RV) Arkansas (now No. 48), and Old Dominion (now No. 40). Their five losses were against No. 8 Texas Tech, North Carolina State (now No. 46), Nebraska (now No. 36), Kansas, (now No. 16), and Tulsa (now No. 27). 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. The four remaining opponents are in the top-50. (Oklahoma State (13), Kansas State (32), UCF (21), and Oklahoma (44).
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 March 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- came into the week with a 13-4 record and winners of two-straight
Mar. 20 Poll- No. 33- The Shockers make the poll for the fifth-straight week with a 13-5 record
Mar. 27 Poll- No. 35- Wichita State has won four of its last five matches, including a 5-2 win over Iowa March 23
SHOCKER SUMMARY
Wichita State is 14-5 to start the 2018 campaign, with losses to No. 8 Texas Tech (4-0), NC State (4-3) Nebraska (4-3), No. 20 Kansas (4-3) and No. 32 Tulsa (7-0). 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), North Texas (4-2), and Iowa (5-2). The Shockers are led by sophomore
Fatima Bizhukova (9-4) and junior
Sandra Honigova (14-3). Sophomore
Marta Bellucco is 8-5, and senior
Gabriela Porubin is 9-6 in dual action in both third and fourth flights. Senior
Giulia Guidetti, is 12-5 in singles, and 10-3 in doubles action with
Ting-Ya Hsu. The Shockers are 63-34 (.649) collectively in singles 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)
SOPHOMORE SHINE
Shocker sophomore
Fatima Bizhukova ranks 68th in the latest ITA/Oracle Singles Rankings released Mar. 20. Bizhukova is 16-9 on the season, and 9-4 in dual action. She has three wins over ranked opponents, including a win over No. 43 Maria Kononova of North Texas in straight sets. The Singles Rankings come out every two weeks, with Bizhukova drawing a ranking in every poll. Bizhukova was ranked No. 84 in Mar. 6 poll, 71
st in Feb. 20 poll, and 73
rd in Feb. 7
th poll.
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.
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 7-8 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 4-3 in dual matches all in the sixth flight.
NEXT STOP: The Shockers take a week of before returning home to take on Kansas State and UCF, April 13 and 15 to end the regular season. WSU will take on Kansas State at 4 p.m. on Friday, and UCF on Sunday at 12 p.m.
