WICHITA, Kan. – No. 34 Wichita State (15-6) closes out the regular season with two home matches against No. 36 Kansas State and No. 19 UCF, Friday and Sunday. Friday's match will be played at Genesis Health Club (Rock Road).
MATCH INFORMATION VS NO. 36 KANSAS STATE
April 13, 2018 (12:30 p.m.)
Head-to-head record- Tied (26-26)
Under Colin Foster- (5-3)
Home- (13-11)
Away- (9-12)
Neutral - (4-3)
Last Meeting- March 31, 2017 –Wichita State defeated Kansas State 4-1 in Manhattan.
MATCH INFORMATION VS. NO. 19 UCF
April 15, 2018 (12 p.m.)
Head-to-head record- Wichita State leads, 1-0
Wichita State and UCF have met just one time in program history, on March 15, 1989 in Orlando. The Shockers won the match 8-0 over the Knights.
LAST TIME OUT
No. 36 Wichita State split a pair of road matches against No. 13 Oklahoma State and No. 44 Oklahoma. The Cowgirls took down WSU 4-0 on March 31 in Stillwater. The Shockers pulled out a 5-2 victory over No. 44 Oklahoma on April 1. Sophomore
Fatima Bizhukova helped lead the Shockers, taking down 28
th-ranked Lily Miyazaki (6-2, 6-3).
Sandra Honigova worked over Jasmine Asghar in the second flight, (6-4, 6-1), while Guilia Guidetti won in three-sets over Christiana Brigante on court three. Along with
Gabriela Porubin winning in flight five, the Shockers took the doubles point with wins in the first and third flights.
SCOUTING KANSAS STATE
The Wildcats come into the match with a 14-5 record (4-2 Big 12), and are ranked 36
th in the latest ITA/Oracle Team Rankings. They have wins against UMKC, USCB, North Texas, Washington State, Colorado, Nebraska, Akron, No. 49 Missouri, No. 48 William & Mary, SMU, No. 28 Baylor, Missouri State, TCU, West Virginia and Iowa State. Their losses came from No. 41 FIU, No. 42 Nebraska, Georgia State, No. 12 Texas and No. 16 Texas Tech. Maria Linares and Ines Mesquita lead the Wildcats, with 11-4 records in singles action. The duo of Carolina Costamagna and Margot Decker at 10-5 on the season, all in flight one.
SCOUTING UCF
In the Rankings: Singles- Rebeka Stolmar (No. 120)
Doubles- Ksenia Kuznetsova/Maria Martinez (No. 51)
UCF comes into the match riding an 11-game win streak, and a 17-2 record. The Knights' two losses came to Alabama (4-3) and TCU (4-1). They have wins over No. 15 South Carolina (4-3), North Texas (4-1), Troy (7-0), North Florida (4-0), SMU (6-1), No.16 Baylor (5-2), No. 25 Michigan (4-2), ECU (4-0), ETSU (6-1), Penn State (5-2), Memphis (4-1), Clemson (4-3), Yale (5-2), Brown (7-0), FIU (4-1), USF (4-1), and Rice (4-0). Rebeka Stolmar, who ranks No. 120 in singles, sports a 17-1 record primarily in the third flight. Monica Matias is 11-3, Natalia Serrano comes in at 10-3 and Silvia Bordes is 9-3 for the Knights.
MOVING ON UP
Seniors
Giulia Guidetti and
Gabriela Porubin continue to move up in the Wichita State record books. Guidetti comes in 12
th all-time in combined doubles and singles wins with 161. Porubin, who has 187 combined wins, is fifth on the all-time list. On the singles all-time list, Guidetti sets at 92 wins, good for sixth in the record books. Sandy Sadler is first with 112. With 89 wins, Porubin comes in at eighth. Porubin is currently fourth all-time with 96 career doubles wins. 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 170
th 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.
-Wichita State and UCF meet for the first time since 1989, which was their only meeting.
POWER SCHEDULE
In the April 10 ITA/Oracle Team Rankings, 10 of the 21 opponents the Shockers have faced this season are in the top-50. Wichita State has a 4-6 record against the 10, with wins over FIU (now No. 37), (RV) Arkansas (now No. 49), Old Dominion (now No. 47), and No. 44 Oklahoma. Their six losses were against No. 8 Texas Tech, North Carolina State (now No. 38), Nebraska (now No. 46), Kansas, (now No. 17), Tulsa (now No. 29), and No. 13 Oklahoma State. Mizzou was ranked No. 49 when the Shockers beat them, before dropping out of the top-50. Wichita State's two remaining opponents rank in the top-40. Kansas State comes in at No. 36, while UCF is No. 19.
YET AGAIN
The Shockers make an appearance in ITA National Team Rankings for the 12
th-straight season, and eighth-straight week.
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.
March 6 Poll- No. 23- Wichita State comes in at No. 23, sporting an 11-4 record.
March 13 Poll- No. 27- came into the week with a 13-4 record and winners of two-straight
March 20 Poll- No. 33- The Shockers make the poll for the fifth-straight week with a 13-5 record
March 27 Poll- No. 35- Wichita State has won four of its last five matches, including a 5-2 win over Iowa March 23
April 3 Poll- No. 36- The Shockers split a pair of road matches in Oklahoma. WSU lost to No. 13 Oklahoma State 4-0, and took down No. 44 Oklahoma 5-2.
April 10 Poll- No. 34- Wichita State made the polls for the eighth-straight week, moving up two spots to No. 34.
SHOCKER SUMMARY
Wichita State is 15-6 on the year, with losses to No. 8 Texas Tech (4-0), NC State (4-3) Nebraska (4-3), No. 20 Kansas (4-3) No. 32 Tulsa (7-0), and No. 13 Oklahoma State (4-0). 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), Iowa (5-2), and No. 44 Oklahoma (5-2). The Shockers are led by sophomore
Fatima Bizhukova (10-5) and junior
Sandra Honigova (15-3). Sophomore
Marta Bellucco is 8-7, and senior
Gabriela Porubin is 10-7 in dual action in both third and fourth flights. Senior
Giulia Guidetti, is 13-5 in singles, and 10-5 in doubles action with sophomore
Ting-Ya Hsu. The Shockers are 67-39 (.632) 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 56
th in the latest ITA/Oracle Singles Rankings released April 10. Bizhukova is 16-9 on the season, and 10-5 in dual action. She has four wins over ranked opponents, including a win over No. 43 Maria Kononova of North Texas and No. 28 ranked Lily Miyazaki of Oklahoma. The singles rankings come out every two weeks, with Bizhukova drawing a ranking in every poll. Bizhukova was ranked 55
th in the April 3 poll, No. 84 in the March 6 poll, 71
st in Feb. 20 poll, and 73
rd in Feb. 7
th poll.
SHOCKER DUO
Sophomores
Marta Bellucco and
Fatima Bizhukova broke the top-75 in the most recent ITA/Oracle Doubles Rankings, coming in at No. 64. The duo has two wins over top-50 opponents, and enter the weekend with a 6-3 record, all in flight one. It is the first doubles rankings for the Shockers since the week of Nov. 15, where Bizhukova and Porubin ranked No. 23.
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 on 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 4-4 in dual matches all in the sixth flight.
NEXT STOP: The Shockers travel to Dallas, Texas for their first American Athletic Conference Championship, April 18-21 at the SMU Tennis Complex.
